Lok Sabha Question No. 411 (STARRED), answered on 2023-03-29
Subject: Last Mile Connectivity under BharatNet Project
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Kunwar Danish Ali

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 411 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29 TH  MARCH, 2023

## LAST MILE CONNECTIVITY UNDER BHARATNET PROJECT

## *411.   KUNWAR DANISH ALI:

| Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to                                                       | state:                                                                                                                                                        |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (a)                                                                                                     | whether the last mile connectivity scheme under BharatNet Project to connect every Gram                                                                       |
| Panchayat (GP) with internet services has been chalked out;                                             | Panchayat (GP) with internet services has been chalked out;                                                                                                   |
| (c) were                                                                                                | whether it is a fact that the internet services are not functioning properly in the GPs which already connected with internet and if so, the details thereof; |
| (d)                                                                                                     | whether the Government has formulated any action plan for monitoring the scheme; and                                                                          |
| (e)                                                                                                     | if so, the details thereof?                                                                                                                                   |
| ANSWER                                                                                                  | ANSWER                                                                                                                                                        |
| MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) | MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)                                                       |
| (a) to (e)                                                                                              | 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 (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 411 FOR 29 TH  MARCH, 2023 REGARDING 'LAST MILE CONNECTIVITY UNDER BHARATNET PROJECT.'

(a) & (b) BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (GPs) including Villages, in the country. As on 06.03.2023, a total of 1,89,402 GPs has been made Service Ready under BharatNet. The infrastructure created under BharatNet project can be utilized by Service Providers for provisioning of broadband/internet services through Wi-Fi Hotspots, Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections, leased lines, dark fibre, backhaul to mobile towers, etc.

Department has given responsibility to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for utilization of  BharatNet,  except  BharatNet  Phase-II  under  State-led  model  where  State  are  responsible  for utilization.

A pilot project for rolling out of 5 lakh FTTH connections using BharatNet through BharatNet Udyamis (BNUs) in GPs/Villages has also been assigned to BSNL.

Further, Government has approved proposals of States under Part-V (Optical Fibre Cable) of the  Scheme  for  Special  Assistance  to  States  for  Capital  Investment  for  2022-23  for  Last  Mile Connectivity (LMC) on the OFC to Government Institutions, Private Institutions and Households from BharatNet network.

The  details  of  FTTH  connections  provided  in  the  Districts  of  Uttar  Pradesh,  including Amroha District, are given in Annexure-I .

(c) to (e) The availability of internet services in the GPs which were already connected under BharatNet, depends on multiple factors such as maintenance of fibre, availability of electricity, etc. To  ensure  proper  maintenance  of  fibre,  Service  Level  Agreement  (SLA)  based  Operations  and Maintenance (O&M) for BharatNet, through professional agencies, has been entrusted to BSNL, except State-led model of BharatNet where the respective States are responsible for its maintenance. Further, BharatNet including its utilization is being monitored on real time basis centrally through Network Operating Centre (NOC), wherein alerts generated by the system are forwarded to the professional maintenance agencies for attending the faults in optical network.

## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in Parts (a) & (b) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 411 for answer on 29.03.2023

## Details of FTTH connections provided in the Districts of Uttar Pradesh (as on 13.03.2023)

|   S. No. | District            |   No. of FTTH Connections Provided through BNUs |
|----------|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Agra                |                                             734 |
|        2 | Aligarh             |                                             367 |
|        3 | Amethi              |                                              88 |
|        4 | Amroha              |                                               7 |
|        5 | Ayodhya             |                                             105 |
|        6 | Azamgarh            |                                               1 |
|        7 | Ballia              |                                               2 |
|        8 | Banda               |                                             214 |
|        9 | Barabanki           |                                             238 |
|       10 | Bareilly            |                                             137 |
|       11 | Basti               |                                              31 |
|       12 | Bhadohi             |                                              22 |
|       13 | Bijnor              |                                             335 |
|       14 | Budaun              |                                              47 |
|       15 | Chandauli           |                                             109 |
|       16 | Chitrakoot          |                                              24 |
|       17 | Deoria              |                                             174 |
|       18 | Etah                |                                              31 |
|       19 | Etawah              |                                              78 |
|       20 | Farrukhabad         |                                              63 |
|       21 | Fatehpur            |                                              10 |
|       22 | Firozabad           |                                              50 |
|       23 | Gautam Buddha Nagar |                                             113 |
|       24 | Ghaziabad           |                                               3 |
|       25 | Ghazipur            |                                              78 |
|       26 | Gorakhpur           |                                              59 |
|       27 | Hamirpur            |                                              25 |
|       28 | Hapur               |                                              16 |
|       29 | Hardoi              |                                              10 |
|       30 | Hathras             |                                             153 |
|       31 | Jalaun              |                                              61 |
|       32 | Jaunpur             |                                              10 |
|       33 | Jhansi              |                                              91 |
|       34 | JP Nagar            |                                              10 |
|       35 | Kannauj             |                                              94 |
|       36 | Kanpur Dehat        |                                             146 |
|       37 | Kanpur Nagar        |                                              97 |
|       38 | Kasganj             |                                              40 |
|       39 | Kaushambi           |                                              92 |
|       40 | Kushi Nagar         |                                              16 |
|       41 | Lalitpur            |                                             163 |

| S. No.   | District                                          |   No. of FTTH Connections Provided through BNUs |
|----------|---------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| 42       | Lucknow                                           |                                             318 |
| 43       | Mahoba                                            |                                              11 |
| 44       | Mainpuri                                          |                                              10 |
| 45       | Mathura                                           |                                              97 |
| 46       | Meerut                                            |                                            1126 |
| 47       | Mirzapur                                          |                                              90 |
| 48       | Moradabad                                         |                                              64 |
| 49       | Muzaffarnagar                                     |                                             371 |
| 50       | Pratapgarh                                        |                                             138 |
| 51       | Prayagraj                                         |                                             324 |
| 52       | Rae Bareli                                        |                                             167 |
| 53       | Rampur                                            |                                              14 |
| 54       | Saharanpur                                        |                                             184 |
| 55       | Sant Kabeer Nagar                                 |                                              66 |
| 56       | Shahjahanpur                                      |                                             137 |
| 57       | Sitapur                                           |                                              77 |
| 58       | Sultanpur                                         |                                             138 |
| 59       | Unnao                                             |                                             392 |
| 60       | Varanasi                                          |                                            1427 |
|          | Total                                             |                                            9295 |
|          | No. of FTTH connections provided other than BNUs* |                                            1362 |
|          | Grand Total                                       |                                           10657 |

* Data is not maintained District-wise.

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