Lok Sabha Question No. 1199 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-14
Subject: BharatNet Project
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1199 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14 TH  DECEMBER, 2022

## BHARATNET PROJECT

## 1199.   COL. RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  BharatNet  Project  and  the  State/UT-wise  list  of  the  percentage  of  Gram Panchayats which have been covered under it;
- (b) the details of the Gram Panchayats and Blocks that the Government has proposed to cover under Phase I and Phase II of BharatNet project in Rajasthan;
- (c) the  number  of  public  WiFi  hotspots  set  up  in  rural  areas  under  the  BharatNet  project, district-wise for the State of Rajasthan; and
- (d) the  details  of  the  third  Phase  of  BharatNet  Project  and  its  extension  to  the  districts  of Rajasthan?

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

- (a) BharatNet  project  is  being  implemented  in  a  phased  manner  to  provide  broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (GPs) (approx. 2.6 lakh) in the country. Now, the scope of the project has been expanded up to all inhabited villages. State/UT-wise list of the percentage of Gram  Panchayats  which  have  been  made  service  ready  under  BharatNet  Project  is  given  in Annexure-I.
- (b) Under Phase-I and Phase-II of BharatNet project in Rajasthan, out of 11,352 Planned Gram Panchayats (GPs) and 221 Block Headquarters (BHQs), 8770 GPs and 221 BHQs have been made Service Ready, as on 28.11.2022.
- (c) The District-wise details of the number of public Wi-Fi hotspots installed in rural areas under the BharatNet project in Rajasthan are given in Annexure-II .
- (d) The scope of BharatNet project has been extended up to all inhabited villages beyond GPs in the country, with the completion timeline as 2025, including for the State of Rajasthan.

## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in Part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1199 for answer on 14.12.2022

## State/UT-wise  list  of  the  percentage  of  Gram  Panchayats  which  have  been  made  service  ready  under BharatNet

| S. No.   | State                                |   Total GPs planned (excluding BHQs) |   Total Service ready (excluding BHQs) |   Percentage of covered GPs |
|----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
| 1        | Andaman &Nicobar                     |                                   70 |                                     51 |                       72.86 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh                       |                                13420 |                                   4281 |                       31.9  |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh                    |                                 1796 |                                    769 |                       42.82 |
| 4        | Assam                                |                                 2665 |                                   1511 |                       56.7  |
| 5        | Bihar                                |                                 8404 |                                   8316 |                       98.95 |
| 6        | Chandigarh                           |                                   12 |                                     12 |                      100    |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh                         |                                11676 |                                   9451 |                       80.94 |
| 8        | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and |                                   38 |                                     38 |                      100    |
| 9        | Diu Goa                              |                                  191 |                                      0 |                        0    |
| 10       | Gujarat                              |                                14288 |                                  14227 |                       99.57 |
| 11       | Haryana                              |                                 6256 |                                   6082 |                       97.22 |
| 12       | Himachal Pradesh                     |                                 3616 |                                    408 |                       11.28 |
| 13       | Jammu &Kashmir                       |                                 4299 |                                   1091 |                       25.38 |
| 14       | Jharkhand                            |                                 4399 |                                   4335 |                       98.55 |
| 15       | Karnataka                            |                                 6090 |                                   6084 |                       99.9  |
| 16       | Kerala                               |                                  978 |                                    978 |                      100    |
| 17       | Ladakh                               |                                  193 |                                    192 |                       99.48 |
| 18       | Lakshadweep                          |                                   10 |                                      9 |                       90    |
| 19       | Madhya Pradesh                       |                                22841 |                                  17776 |                       77.82 |
| 20       | Maharashtra                          |                                28238 |                                  23597 |                       83.56 |
| 21       | Manipur                              |                                 2782 |                                   1458 |                       52.41 |
| 22       | Meghalaya                            |                                 1792 |                                    681 |                       38    |
| 23       | Mizoram                              |                                  762 |                                    452 |                       59.32 |
| 24       | Nagaland                             |                                  983 |                                    232 |                       23.6  |
| 25       | Odisha                               |                                 6796 |                                   6779 |                       99.75 |
| 26       | Puducherry                           |                                  110 |                                     98 |                       89.09 |
| 27       | Punjab                               |                                13337 |                                  12668 |                       94.98 |
| 28       | Rajasthan                            |                                11352 |                                   8770 |                       77.26 |
| 29       | Sikkim                               |                                  185 |                                     26 |                       14.05 |
| 30       | Tamil Nadu                           |                                12524 |                                    499 |                        3.98 |
| 31       | Telangana                            |                                12769 |                                   8716 |                       68.26 |
| 32       | Tripura                              |                                 1114 |                                    727 |                       65.26 |
| 33       | Uttar Pradesh                        |                                59365 |                                  39818 |                       67.07 |
| 34       | Uttarakhand                          |                                 7936 |                                   1760 |                       22.18 |
| 35       | West Bengal                          |                                 3348 |                                   2507 |                       74.88 |
|          | Total                                |                               264635 |                                 184399 |                       69.68 |

## Note:

-  Delhi has no GPs and thus not taken up under BharatNet Project.
-  Goa had its own similar broadband network and thus not taken up under Ph-I & Phase-II of BharatNet Project.
-  Tamil  Nadu  State  Government  signed  the  MoU  with  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund  (USOF)  on 31.03.2017 for implementation of BharatNet project. Phase-I of BharatNet was accordingly not taken up in Tamil Nadu and the State's GPs are being implemented in Phase-II under State-Led model.

Annexure referred to in Part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1199 for answer on 14.12.2022

## The District-wise details of the number of public Wi-Fi hotspots installed under the BharatNet project in Rajasthan

| S. No.   | District       |   Number of Wi-Fi Hotspot installed |
|----------|----------------|-------------------------------------|
| 1        | Ajmer          |                                 268 |
| 2        | Alwar          |                                 377 |
| 3        | Banswara       |                                 301 |
| 4        | Baran          |                                 209 |
| 5        | Barmer         |                                  44 |
| 6        | Bharatpur      |                                 360 |
| 7        | Bhilwara       |                                 373 |
| 8        | Bikaner        |                                 118 |
| 9        | Bundi          |                                 184 |
| 10       | Chittorgarh    |                                 290 |
| 11       | Churu          |                                 210 |
| 12       | Dausa          |                                 205 |
| 13       | Dholpur        |                                 151 |
| 14       | Dungarpur      |                                 245 |
| 15       | Ganganagar     |                                 314 |
| 16       | Hanumangarh    |                                 230 |
| 17       | Jaipur         |                                 447 |
| 18       | Jalore         |                                 229 |
| 19       | Jhalawar       |                                 251 |
| 20       | Jhunjhunu      |                                 242 |
| 21       | Jodhpur        |                                 306 |
| 22       | Jaiselmer      |                                  16 |
| 23       | Karauli        |                                 224 |
| 24       | Kota           |                                 156 |
| 25       | Nagaur         |                                 365 |
| 26       | Pali           |                                 310 |
| 27       | Pratapgarh     |                                 152 |
| 28       | Rajsamand      |                                 205 |
| 29       | Sawai Madhopur |                                 198 |
| 30       | Sikar          |                                 288 |
| 31       | Sirohi         |                                 142 |
| 32       | Tonk           |                                 188 |
| 33       | Udaipur        |                                 466 |
|          | Grand Total    |                                8064 |

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