Lok Sabha Question No. 15 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-07
Subject: Universal Service Obligation Fund Project
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Shashi Tharoor, Dr. T. Sumathy (a) Thamizhachi Thangapandian

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 15 TO BE ANSWERED ON 7 TH  DECEMBER, 2022

## UNIVERSAL SERVICE OBLIGATION FUND PROJECT

15. DR. SHASHI THAROOR: DR. T. SUMATHY (a) THAMIZHACHI THANGAPANDIAN:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  a  number  of  areas  remained  uncovered  under  the  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund (USOF) project in Kerala and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether any project proposals lay pending with the Government for Kerala for these uncovered areas;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the number of projects under USOF sanctioned by the Government during the past five years;
- (e) whether the Government also plans to upgrade the existing BSNL services using the funds and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the State-wise details of funds disbursed from the budget for USOF during the past five years?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

- (a) 214 villages for provision of 4G mobile services and 27 villages for upgradation of network from 2G to 4G in the state of Kerala are included in the USOF funded project for 4G Saturation. BharatNet connectivity has already been extended in all 978 GPs of Kerala. Further, on 30.06.2021, Union Cabinet has accorded in principle approval for extending BharatNet beyond GPs upto villages in the country including Kerala. The implementation strategy and cost estimation for the same is being worked out in USOF/DoT.
- (b) & (c) A proposal received from State Government of Kerala for providing internet connectivity to anganwadis, rations shops and post offices under Part-V (Optical Fibre Cable) of the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment for the year 2022-23 has been examined in the department and as recommended by DoT, amount of  Rs.85.00 crore has been approved for the State of Kerala.
- (d) USOF Funded BharatNet project and 4G saturation project sanctioned by Government include Gram Panchayats and Villages of Kerala.
- (e) Under the USOF funded 4G Saturation project, villages having only 2G/3G connectivity from BSNL are also planned for upgradation to 4G .
- (f) The state-wise details of fund disbursed from USOF during last five years (2017-18 to 2021-22) is attached as Annexure.

## Annexure

Annexure referred to in Part (f) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 15 for answer on 07.12.2022

| State/UT wise details of Funds disbursed from USOF during last five years (2017-18 to 2021-22)   | State/UT wise details of Funds disbursed from USOF during last five years (2017-18 to 2021-22)   | State/UT wise details of Funds disbursed from USOF during last five years (2017-18 to 2021-22)   |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                                                                                          | Name of States/UT                                                                                | Figures in crore                                                                                 |
| 1                                                                                                | Andaman &Nicobar                                                                                 | 1073.23                                                                                          |
| 2                                                                                                | Andhra Pradesh                                                                                   | 75.42                                                                                            |
| 3                                                                                                | Assam                                                                                            | 290.58                                                                                           |
| 4                                                                                                | Bihar                                                                                            | 218.83                                                                                           |
| 5                                                                                                | Chhattisgarh                                                                                     | 288.13                                                                                           |
| 6                                                                                                | Gujrat                                                                                           | 24.27                                                                                            |
| 7                                                                                                | Haryana                                                                                          | 5.34                                                                                             |
| 8                                                                                                | Himanchal Pradesh                                                                                | 15.07                                                                                            |
| 9                                                                                                | Jammu &Kashmir (including Ladakh)                                                                | 25.83                                                                                            |
| 10                                                                                               | Jharkhand                                                                                        | 583.15                                                                                           |
| 11                                                                                               | Karnataka                                                                                        | 18.36                                                                                            |
| 12                                                                                               | Kerala (including Lakshadweep)                                                                   | 251.30                                                                                           |
| 13                                                                                               | Maharashtra                                                                                      | 94.14                                                                                            |
| 14                                                                                               | Madhya Pradesh                                                                                   | 30.87                                                                                            |
| 15                                                                                               | North Eastern Region (NE-I)*                                                                     | 112.29                                                                                           |
| 16                                                                                               | North Eastern Region (NE-II)**                                                                   | 265.62                                                                                           |
| 17                                                                                               | Odisha                                                                                           | 221.51                                                                                           |
| 18                                                                                               | Punjab                                                                                           | 7.23                                                                                             |
| 19                                                                                               | Rajasthan                                                                                        | 15.56                                                                                            |
| 20                                                                                               | Tamil Nadu                                                                                       | 4.03                                                                                             |
| 21                                                                                               | Telangana                                                                                        | 79.15                                                                                            |
| 22                                                                                               | Uttar Pradesh                                                                                    | 89.83                                                                                            |
| 23                                                                                               | Uttarakhand                                                                                      | 0.21                                                                                             |
| 24                                                                                               | West Bengal (including Sikkim)                                                                   | 86.27                                                                                            |
| 25                                                                                               | Centrally Allocated / Disbursed Funds#                                                           | 26369.93                                                                                         |
|                                                                                                  | Total                                                                                            | 30212.98                                                                                         |

#Fund released for BharatNet etc.

*NE-I includes Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura

- **NE-II includes Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur

*******