Lok Sabha Question No. 1782 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-27
Subject: Objectives of USOF
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Talari Rangaiah

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1782 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 TH   JULY, 2022

## OBJECTIVES OF USOF

## 1782.   DR. TALARI RANGAIAH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the objectives of the Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF);
- (b) whether the Government has not been able to achieve the same objectives of USOF, if so, the details thereof including the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the Government has fixed the accountability for not fulfilling of the said objectives; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with the amount spent on USOF, State-wise?

## ANSWER

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

(a) & (b) Universal Service Obligation Fund  (USOF)  was  established with effect from 01.04.2002  under  the  Indian  Telegraph  (Amendment)  Act  2003,  as  amended  from  time  to  time,  to provide  financial  support  for  the  provision  of  telecom  services  in  commercially  unviable  rural  and remote areas of the country. The scope of USO Fund covers all telecom services including mobile services, broadband connectivity and creation of infrastructure like Optical Fibre Cable (OFC), etc. in rural and remote areas. A number of schemes have been taken up with funding from USOF for expansion of telecom services in rural & remote areas of the country, details of which are given in Annexure-I .

USOF  projects  such  as  BharatNet,  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE)  affected  areas  scheme, Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) for North Eastern Region (NER) are  of  mega nature  and  the  sites  are  widely  dispersed  across  the  country  in  difficult  rural  and  remote  areas. Implementation of the projects are in hilly and forest areas, LWE affected areas and getting Right of Way (RoW) and other permissions pose a challenge and require close coordination with various Central and State Government Authorities. All out efforts are made to expeditiously implement the projects.

(c) & (d) The implementation of the USOF schemes is carried out through the Service Providers after entering into contracts, and action is taken as indicated therein for not meeting the stipulated targets. The amount spent on USOF, State-wise, is given in Annexure-II .

## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in Parts (a) & (b) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question            No. 1782 for answer on 27.07.2022

## A number of schemes have been taken up with funding from USOF for expansion of telecom services in rural and remote areas of the country as given below:

- (i) Under BharatNet project to provide broadband connectivity in all the Gram Panchayats in the country, as on 04.07.2022, total 1,77,550 GPs have been made Service Ready in the country.
- (ii) For provision of mobile services in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas, the PhaseI scheme has been completed by installing 2343 towers.
- (iii) For provision of 4G mobile services in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas under Phase-II, as of June, a total of 37 towers have been installed.
- (iv) Under Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) for mobile connectivity in the North Eastern Region, as of June, a total of 1636 towers have been installed, covering 1663 villages and National Highways.
- (v) Hiring  of  20  Gbps  International  Bandwidth  for  Internet  Connectivity  to  Agartala  from BSCCL, Bangladesh via Cox Bazar has been commissioned.
- (vi) For provision of mobile connectivity in 354 uncovered villages of J&K, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Bihar,  Rajasthan,  Gujarat,  Uttarakhand,  Border  area  &  other priority areas, as of June, a total of 250 towers have been installed, covering 268 villages.
- (vii) For provision of 4G mobile connectivity in 502 uncovered villages of Aspirational Districts in four States (namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan), as of June, a total of 69 towers have been installed, covering 86 villages.
- (viii) For provision of 4G mobile connectivity in 7,287 villages of Aspirational District in five States (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha),  agreements have been signed.
- (ix) For provision of 4G Mobile Coverage in 85 uncovered Villages and seamless 4G Mobile coverage of NH223 in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, agreement has been signed.
- (x) For  laying  of  submarine  optical  fibre  cable  between  Chennai  and  Andaman  &  Nicobar Islands,  project  completed and  200  Gbps  Bandwidth available between Chennai to Port Blair while 100 Gbps bandwidth available within Islands.
- (xi) For  Submarine  OFC  Connectivity  between  Mainland  India  (Kochi)  and  Lakshadweep Islands, survey completed.

Annexure referred to in Parts (c) & (d) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 1782 for answer on 27.07.2022

State/UT- wise details of funds spent/ disbursed by USOF (as on 30.06.2022)

| S. No.   | States/UT                            |   Figures in Crore |
|----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------|
| 1        | Andaman &Nicobar Islands             |            1085.77 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh                       |             878.21 |
| 3        | Assam                                |             506.85 |
| 4        | Bihar                                |             638.5  |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh                         |             576.17 |
| 6        | Gujarat                              |             688.54 |
| 7        | Haryana                              |             194.43 |
| 8        | Himachal Pradesh                     |             285.03 |
| 9        | Jammu &Kashmir (including Ladakh)    |             113.44 |
| 10       | Jharkhand                            |             672.99 |
| 11       | Karnataka                            |             690.36 |
| 12       | Kerala (including Lakshadweep)       |             766.12 |
| 13       | Maharashtra                          |            1456.59 |
| 14       | Madhya Pradesh                       |             883.16 |
| 15       | NE-I*                                |             260.26 |
| 16       | NE-II**                              |             363.26 |
| 17       | Odisha                               |             637.93 |
| 18       | Punjab                               |             337.59 |
| 19       | Rajasthan                            |             815.6  |
| 20       | Tamil Nadu                           |             360.04 |
| 21       | Telangana                            |              80.62 |
| 22       | Uttar Pradesh                        |             959.63 |
| 23       | Uttarakhand                          |             161.75 |
| 24       | West Bengal (including Sikkim)       |             269.97 |
| 25       | Centrally Disbursed /Utilized Funds# |           54387.1  |
|          | Total                                |           68069.9  |