Lok Sabha Question No. 44 (STARRED), answered on 2019-11-20
Subject: Mobile Services in Rural and Scheduled Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Reddeppa Nallakonda Gari, Venkatesh Netha Borlakunta

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 44 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH   NOVEMBER, 2019

## MOBILE SERVICES IN RURAL AND SCHEDULED AREAS

- *44. SHRI N. REDDEPPA: SHRI VENKATESH NETHA BORLAKUNTA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  is  taking  steps  for  providing  mobile  services  in  rural/  scheduled areas of the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof,  State/UT-wise  along with the funds sanctioned/spent so far during each of the last three years; and
- (c) the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  and  enhance  the  mobile connectivity in such areas in future?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) to (c) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) to (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *44 FOR 20 TH  NOVEMBER, 2019  ON 'MOBILE SERVICES IN RURAL AND SCHEDULED AREAS'.

(a) to (c) To  accelerate  and  augment  telecom  connectivity  in  rural  and  scheduled  areas across the country, following projects are approved/implemented by the Government:

- (i) Under Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas Phase-I project, 2355 towers at a cost of Rs. 3,591.22 crore have been installed by Government of India. Under LWE Phase-II  project,  installation  of  2217  mobile  towers  at  an  estimated  cost  of  Rs. 2,194.83  crore  has  been  approved  for  providing  mobile  connectivity  covering  the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya  Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal;
- (ii) Mobile connectivity in 354 villages of uncovered border areas including Ladakh and Kargil  Region,  Himachal  Pradesh,  Uttarakhand  and  other  priority  areas  at  an estimated cost of Rs. 384.01 crore has also been approved. The remaining uncovered villages are being covered in a phased manner by the telecom service providers and Government;
- (iii) A Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for mobile connectivity in the North Eastern  Region  to  provide  mobile  coverage  in  uncovered  villages  and  alongwith National Highways and to augment transmission network;
- (iv) Under BharatNet project, broadband connectivity in all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2.5 lakh) in the country at an estimated cost of Rs. 42,068 crore;
- (v) Laying of submarine optical fibre cable between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands for providing connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- (vi) Mobile connectivity to  cover uncovered villages  and along  National Highway (NH 223) in Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- (vii) Mobile  connectivity  has  been  enhanced  in  Lakshadweep  Islands  by  installing  10 mobile towers;
- (viii) Satellite bandwidth augmentation upto 4 Gbps for Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- (ix) Satellite bandwidth augmentation upto 1.71 Gbps for Lakshadweep Islands.

State/UT-wise details of funds disbursed so far during each of the last three years under BharatNet and various other USOF schemes are at Annexure-A and B respectively.

## Annexure-A

Annexure-A referred to in Part (a) to (c) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *44 for Answer on 20-11-2019:

| DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS UNDER BHARATNET DURING LAST THREE YEARS   | DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS UNDER BHARATNET DURING LAST THREE YEARS   | DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS UNDER BHARATNET DURING LAST THREE YEARS   | DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS UNDER BHARATNET DURING LAST THREE YEARS   | DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS UNDER BHARATNET DURING LAST THREE YEARS   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| S.No.                                                           | State/UT                                                        | Year 16-17                                                      | Year 17-18                                                      | Rs. in Crores Year 18-19                                        |
| 1                                                               | Andaman &Nicobar                                                | 1.85                                                            | 0.16                                                            | 0.00                                                            |
| 2                                                               | Assam                                                           | 89.18                                                           | 3.01                                                            | 4.11                                                            |
| 3                                                               | Bihar                                                           | 190.10                                                          | 22.54                                                           | 48.37                                                           |
| 4                                                               | Chattisgarh                                                     | 241.20                                                          | 236.82                                                          | 239.56                                                          |
| 5                                                               | Haryana                                                         | 90.66                                                           | 134.66                                                          | 9.47                                                            |
| 6                                                               | Jammu &Kashmir, Ladakh                                          | 42.38                                                           | 3.64                                                            | 13.78                                                           |
| 7                                                               | Karnataka                                                       | 1.25                                                            | 224.69                                                          | 23.84                                                           |
| 8                                                               | Kerala                                                          | 25.96                                                           | 0.00                                                            | 0.00                                                            |
| 9                                                               | Maharashtra                                                     | 585.19                                                          | 423.56                                                          | 370.11                                                          |
| 10                                                              | Madhya Pradesh                                                  | 451.96                                                          | 190.22                                                          | 153.61                                                          |
| 11                                                              | Punjab                                                          | 236.29                                                          | 0.00                                                            | 52.64                                                           |
| 12                                                              | Rajasthan                                                       | 162.47                                                          | 108.27                                                          | 122.47                                                          |
| 13                                                              | Uttar Pradesh (East)                                            | 423.17                                                          | 10.51                                                           | 126.85                                                          |
| 14                                                              | Uttar Pradesh (West)                                            | 212.13                                                          | 67.25                                                           | 116.80                                                          |
| 15                                                              | Uttarakhand                                                     | 127.44                                                          | 3.08                                                            | 2.86                                                            |
| 16                                                              | West Bengal                                                     | 141.63                                                          | 91.04                                                           | 11.47                                                           |
| 17                                                              | Sikkim                                                          | 43.23                                                           | 0.58                                                            | 0.00                                                            |
| 18                                                              | Puducherry                                                      | 2.23                                                            | 0.53                                                            | 0.00                                                            |
| 19                                                              | Arunachal Pradesh                                               | 17.68                                                           | 13.97                                                           | 0.60                                                            |
| 20                                                              | Manipur                                                         | 18.52                                                           | 14.63                                                           | 3.13                                                            |
| 21                                                              | Meghalaya                                                       | 24.75                                                           | 19.55                                                           | 2.08                                                            |

| S.No.   | State                                                                |   Year 16-17 |   Year 17-18 |   Year 18-19 |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
| 22      | Mizoram                                                              |        13.21 |        12.35 |         1.69 |
| 23      | Nagaland                                                             |        20.36 |        16.09 |        13.7  |
| 24      | Tripura                                                              |        20.92 |        16.52 |         3.69 |
| 25      | Gujarat, Dadra &Nagar Haveli, Daman &Diu                             |       129.8  |       230.41 |       311.01 |
| 26      | Lakshadweep                                                          |         0    |         0    |         0    |
| 27      | Telangana                                                            |         8.24 |       112.28 |         7.43 |
| 28      | Odisha                                                               |       115.81 |        46.9  |        77.86 |
| 29      | Jharkhand                                                            |        81.39 |        48.13 |       112.13 |
| 30      | Himachal Pradesh                                                     |        52.51 |         1.3  |         0.64 |
| 31      | Andhra Pradesh                                                       |         0    |        84.8  |       181.21 |
| 32      | Tamilnadu                                                            |         0    |       110.64 |         0    |
| 33      | Chandigarh                                                           |         0    |         0    |         0    |
|         | Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) and Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) |       555.45 |       258.42 |         0    |
|         | Advance given to BSNL for Uttar Pradesh (E) and Madhya Pradesh       |         0    |      2302    |       863    |
|         | Total                                                                |      4126.94 |      4808.55 |      2874.09 |

## Annexure-B

Annexure-B referred to in Part (a) to (c) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *44 for Answer on

20-11-2019:

| three years Rs. in Crore                       | three years Rs. in Crore                       | three years Rs. in Crore                       | three years Rs. in Crore                       | three years Rs. in Crore                       |
|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| STATE/UT                                       | 2016-17                                        | 2017-18                                        | 2018-19                                        | Grand Total                                    |
| ANDHRA PRADESH                                 | 8.05                                           | 32.61                                          | 16.48                                          | 57.14                                          |
| ASSAM                                          | 0.71                                           | 3.46                                           | 6.34                                           | 10.51                                          |
| BIHAR                                          | 30.68                                          | 61.67                                          | 63.07                                          | 155.42                                         |
| CHATTISGARH                                    | 63.41                                          | 206.18                                         | 85.36                                          | 354.95                                         |
| DELHI                                          |                                                | 0.04                                           |                                                | 0.04                                           |
| DOT HEAD QUARTERS                              | 1290.35                                        | 68.19                                          | 94.36                                          | 1452.90                                        |
| GUJARAT                                        | 0.00                                           | 14.65                                          |                                                | 14.65                                          |
| HARYANA                                        | 2.56                                           | 6.05                                           | 0.95                                           | 9.56                                           |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH                               | 0.16                                           | 4.87                                           | 2.70                                           | 7.73                                           |
| JAMMU &KASHMIR, LADAKH                         | 1.97                                           | 8.54                                           | 0.03                                           | 10.54                                          |
| JHARKHAND                                      | 97.90                                          | 180.73                                         | 129.32                                         | 407.95                                         |
| KARNATAKA                                      | 0.67                                           | 24.93                                          | 0.01                                           | 25.61                                          |
| KERALA                                         | 6.22                                           | 8.76                                           | 2.59                                           | 17.57                                          |
| MAHARASHTRA                                    | 7.75                                           | 62.56                                          | 19.34                                          | 89.65                                          |
| MADHYA PRADESH                                 | 4.50                                           | 26.01                                          | 4.09                                           | 34.60                                          |
| *NORTH EAST-I (NE-I)                           | 15.00                                          | 1.39                                           | 0.08                                           | 16.48                                          |
| **NORTH EAST-II (NE-II)                        | 14.26                                          | 1.02                                           | 0.01                                           | 15.29                                          |
| ODISHA                                         | 35.14                                          | 141.05                                         | 72.92                                          | 249.10                                         |
| PUNJAB                                         | 2.44                                           | 9.62                                           |                                                | 12.06                                          |
| RAJASTHAN                                      | 1.65                                           | 12.79                                          | 3.68                                           | 18.12                                          |
| TELANGANA                                      | 20.62                                          | 24.73                                          | 19.87                                          | 65.21                                          |
| TAMILNADU                                      | 0.00                                           | 9.56                                           | 91.98                                          | 101.54                                         |
| UTTAR PRADESH                                  | 10.67                                          | 50.04                                          | 6.75                                           | 67.45                                          |
| UTTARAKHAND                                    | 0.00                                           | 3.41                                           | 0.00                                           | 3.41                                           |
| WEST BENGAL                                    | 12.36                                          | 35.87                                          | 22.76                                          | 70.98                                          |
| Grand Total                                    | 1627.05                                        | 998.75                                         | 642.67                                         | 3268.47                                        |
| *NE-I:- Mizoram, Meghalya, Tripura             | *NE-I:- Mizoram, Meghalya, Tripura             | *NE-I:- Mizoram, Meghalya, Tripura             | *NE-I:- Mizoram, Meghalya, Tripura             | *NE-I:- Mizoram, Meghalya, Tripura             |
| **NE-II:- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur | **NE-II:- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur | **NE-II:- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur | **NE-II:- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur | **NE-II:- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur |

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