Lok Sabha Question No. 391 (STARRED), answered on 2022-03-30
Subject: Optical Fibre Cable
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Behanan Benny, Omprakash Bhupalsinh alias Pawan Rajenimbalkar, Faizal P.P. Mohammed

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 391 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30 TH  MARCH, 2022

## OPTICAL FIBRE CABLE

| *391.                                        | SHRI BENNY BEHANAN: SHRIMOHAMMEDFAIZAL P.P.:                                                                                                             |
|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (a) till date;                               | the details of the number of villages connected by Optical Fibre Cable (OFC), year-wise from 2014                                                        |
| (b) actual                                   | the details of phase-wise completion of BharatNet including the original timelines for completion, dates of completion and current status of each phase; |
| (c)                                          | the details and the number of villages yet to be connected by OFC, State-wise; and                                                                       |
| (d)                                          | the annual pace of laying OFC from 2014 till date?                                                                                                       |
| ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS& | ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS&                                                                                                             |
| (a) to (d)                                   | A statement is laid on the Table of the House.                                                                                                           |

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO  (d)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  391  FOR  30 TH   MARCH,  2022 REGARDING 'OPTICAL FIBRE CABLE'.

- (a) BharatNet project is implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity through an optimal mix of media (OFC/Radio/Satellite) to all Gram Panchayats (GPs) of the country. The year-wise number of GPs, made Service Ready on Optical Fibre Cable (OFC), is given in Annexure-I .
- (b) BharatNet project (earlier known as National Optical Fiber Network) was originally approved by the cabinet on 25.10.2011 with the project timeline as two years from the date of approval. Thereafter, the target to connect 1 lakh GPs of Phase-I was revised to November 2017. The Phase-I was completed in December 2017.

Subsequently, the Cabinet approved a modified strategy for BharatNet on 19.07.2017 with the project timeline as March 2019 for all the Gram Panchayats of the country. As on 28.02.2022, total 1,72,361 GPs have been made Service Ready under BharatNet project in the country.

The scope of BharatNet has been recently extended up to all inhabited villages beyond GPs in the country, with the timeline as 2025.

- (c) Under BharatNet project, broadband connectivity is envisaged to be provided through an optimal mix of media (OFC/Radio/Satellite) to GPs/Villages. The State/UT-wise details of the GPs/Villages, yet to be made Service Ready, are given in Annexure-II .
- (d) The details of year-wise OFC laying (cumulative) are given in Annexure-I .

## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in Parts (a) & (d) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 391 for answer on 30.03.2022 Year-wise details of Service Ready GPs and OFC laid (from 2014 to Feb 2022)

| Year          | No. of Service Ready GPs (cumulative)   | No. of Service Ready GPs (cumulative)   | Total (cumulative) Service Ready GPs (OFC   | OFC laid (km) (cumulative)   |
|---------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|------------------------------|
|               | on OFC                                  | on Satellite                            | + Satellite)                                |                              |
| August 2014   | 59                                      | 0                                       | 59                                          | 2044                         |
| March 2015    | 441                                     | 0                                       | 441                                         | 26732                        |
| March 2016    | 6547                                    | 0                                       | 6547                                        | 106979                       |
| March 2017    | 17931                                   | 0                                       | 17931                                       | 199935                       |
| March 2018    | 106285                                  | 0                                       | 106285                                      | 269749                       |
| March 2019    | 117903                                  | 616                                     | 118519                                      | 317972                       |
| March 2020    | 136261                                  | 2148                                    | 138409                                      | 431160                       |
| March 2021    | 154286                                  | 3838                                    | 158124                                      | 516377                       |
| February 2022 | 168010                                  | 4351                                    | 172361                                      | 567941                       |

## Annexure-II

Annexure referred to in Part (c) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 391 for answer on 30.03.2022 State-wise details of number of GPs/villages yet to be made Service Ready

| S. No.   | State                                    |   Total Villages (including GPs) |   Service Ready GPs/Villages |   GPs/Villages yet to be made Service Ready |
|----------|------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andaman &Nicobar Islands                 |                              367 |                           24 |                                         343 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh                           |                            17313 |                         1716 |                                       15597 |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh                        |                             5545 |                          769 |                                        4776 |
| 4        | Assam                                    |                            27912 |                         1508 |                                       26404 |
| 5        | Bihar                                    |                            40926 |                         8302 |                                       32624 |
| 6        | Chandigarh                               |                               12 |                           12 |                                           0 |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh                             |                            19992 |                         8856 |                                       11136 |
| 8        | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu |                              101 |                           38 |                                          63 |
| 9        | Delhi                                    |                              222 |                            0 |                                         222 |
| 10       | Goa                                      |                              396 |                            0 |                                         396 |
| 11       | Gujarat                                  |                            18148 |                        14119 |                                        4029 |
| 12       | Haryana                                  |                             6929 |                         6082 |                                         847 |
| 13       | Himachal Pradesh                         |                            19153 |                          406 |                                       18747 |
| 14       | Jammu &Kashmir                           |                             6845 |                         1076 |                                        5769 |
| 15       | Jharkhand                                |                            31141 |                         4254 |                                       26887 |
| 16       | Karnataka                                |                            32050 |                         6083 |                                       25967 |
| 17       | Kerala                                   |                             1333 |                          978 |                                         355 |
| 18       | Ladakh                                   |                              243 |                          190 |                                          53 |
| 19       | Lakshadweep                              |                               24 |                            9 |                                          15 |
| 20       | Madhya Pradesh                           |                            52497 |                        17340 |                                       35157 |
| 21       | Maharashtra                              |                            43681 |                        21977 |                                       21704 |
| 22       | Manipur                                  |                             3811 |                         1436 |                                        2375 |
| 23       | Meghalaya                                |                             6797 |                          651 |                                        6146 |
| 24       | Mizoram                                  |                              864 |                          452 |                                         412 |
| 25       | Nagaland                                 |                             1626 |                          232 |                                        1394 |
| 26       | Odisha                                   |                            51254 |                         6617 |                                       44637 |
| 27       | Puducherry                               |                              117 |                           98 |                                          19 |
| 28       | Punjab                                   |                            13262 |                        12668 |                                         594 |
| 29       | Rajasthan                                |                            46343 |                         8770 |                                       37573 |
| 30       | Sikkim                                   |                              414 |                           24 |                                         390 |
| 31       | Tamil Nadu                               |                            17287 |                            0 |                                       17287 |
| 32       | Telangana                                |                            12769 |                         6886 |                                        5883 |
| 33       | Tripura                                  |                             1021 |                          723 |                                         298 |
| 34       | Uttar Pradesh                            |                           103239 |                        36090 |                                       67149 |
| 35       | Uttarakhand                              |                            15942 |                         1649 |                                       14293 |
| 36       | West Bengal                              |                            39188 |                         2326 |                                       36862 |
|          | Total                                    |                           638764 |                       172361 |                                      466403 |

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