Lok Sabha Question No. 1480 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-28
Subject: BharatNet Project in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: V. Kalanidhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1480 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28 th   JULY, 2021

## BHARATNET PROJECT IN TAMIL NADU

## 1480.   DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the salient features of the Bharat Net Project;
- (b) the details of the funds sanctioned, allocated and utilized under this project in Tamil Nadu during each of the last three years and the current year;
- (c) the details of the target set and achievements made by the Government so far under this project in Tamil Nadu;
- (d) the details of the number of villages covered under the said project in Tamil Nadu so far; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  planned  to  provide  broadband  facilities  to  each  village through this project within Tamil Nadu and if so, the details thereof along with the target set by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c) BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity  to  all  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs)  in  the  country.  The  infrastructure  created  under BharatNet  project  is  a  national  asset,  accessible  on  a  non-discriminatory  basis  to  the  Service Providers. The Phase-I has been implemented by laying incremental underground Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) in linear topology with Gigabyte Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology. The implementation of Phase-II is  by  connecting  GPs  through  an  optimal  mix  of  media  (i.e.  OFC, radio and satellite) and by laying new OFC  from Block to GPs.

On 30.06.2021, Union Cabinet accorded approval for a revised strategy for implementation of BharatNet through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in 16 States of the country covering about 3.61 lakh villages including GPs.

The  Tamil  Nadu  State  Government  signed  the  Memorandum  of  Understanding  (MoU) with  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund  (USOF)  and  Bharat  Broadband  Network  Limited (BBNL)  on  31.03.2017  for  implementation  of  BharatNet  project.  Phase-I  of  BharatNet  was accordingly not taken up in Tamil Nadu. Therefore, all the Gram Panchayats of Tamil Nadu State are being taken up in Phase-II of BharatNet. Further, this is being implemented under the Stateled model.

The  BharatNet  Phase-II  is  being  implemented  in  Tamil  Nadu  by  the  State  Government under 4 Packages (namely A, B, C and D).The actual implementation work is yet to commence. Letters of Acceptance (LoA) have been issued for all the 4 Packages. However, 2 Packages are in litigation and the matter is pending for disposal. The timeline for project completion is 360 days from the date of issuance of Award of Work.

Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), the Executing Agency for BharatNet Project under Department of Telecommunications, has released funds for implementation of the project in Tamil Nadu during each of the last three years and the current year as given below:

| Year                |   Funds released (in Rs. crore) |
|---------------------|---------------------------------|
| 2018-19             |                            0    |
| 2019-20             |                            0.01 |
| 2020-21             |                           36.98 |
| 2021-22 (till date) |                            0    |
| Total               |                           36.99 |

(d) & (e) The implementation of BharatNet upto GPs in Tamil Nadu is being done for about 12,524 GPs through State-led Model. The present approval for PPP model for BharatNet does not include Tamil Nadu State. However, the Union Cabinet on 30.06.2021 has accorded in-principle approval  for  extending  broadband  to  all  inhabited  villages  of  the  remaining  States  and  Union Territories (UTs), including Tamil Nadu and the targeted date for completion upto each inhabited village is August, 2023.

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