Lok Sabha Question No. 2308 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-16
Subject: Broadband Facility in Rural Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Ritesh Pandey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2308 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16 TH  MARCH, 2022

## BROADBAND FACILITY IN RURAL AREAS

## 2308. SHRI RITESH PANDEY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether a large part of the rural population is deprived of broadband/internet facility if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the number of villages provided with internet connectivity under the BharatNet project so far, State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether the Government has not been successful in achieving the target fixed for providing internet/broadband connectivity to villages and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) whether the Government has reviewed the broadband project design for rural areas and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c) As per the data provided by Telecom Service Providers and Field Units of Department of Telecommunications, it is estimated that out of 5,97,618 inhabited villages (as per Census 2011) in the country, a total number of 5,58,537 villages have mobile broadband wireless coverage.

BharatNet project is implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats  (GPs)  in  the  country.  As  on  28.02.2022,  a  total  number  of  1,72,361  GPs  are  made Service Ready in the country. The State/UT-wise details of Service Ready GPs under BharatNet are given in Annexure-I . Now, the scope of BharatNet project has been extended upto villages beyond GPs in the country.

The Union Cabinet on 30.06.2021 has accorded approval for a revised strategy for implementation of BharatNet through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in 16 States of the country. The Cabinet has also accorded in-principle approval for extending broadband to all inhabited villages of the remaining States and Union Territories (UTs). The timeline of the BharatNet project is 2025.

The Government, with funding from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), is extending 4G mobile connectivity to uncovered villages in a phased manner in order to provide mobile and broadband services to the citizens.

## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in Parts (a) to (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2308 for answer on 16.03.2022

State/UT-wise details of Service Ready Gram Panchayats (GPs) under BharatNet (as on 28.02.2022)

| S. No.   | State/UT                           |   No. of GPs Planned |   No. of GPs Service Ready |
|----------|------------------------------------|----------------------|----------------------------|
| 1.       | Andaman &Nicobar Islands           |                   70 |                         24 |
| 2.       | Andhra Pradesh*                    |                13420 |                       1716 |
| 3.       | Arunachal Pradesh                  |                 1796 |                        769 |
| 4.       | Assam                              |                 2664 |                       1508 |
| 5.       | Bihar                              |                 8404 |                       8302 |
| 6.       | Chandigarh                         |                   12 |                         12 |
| 7.       | Chhattisgarh*                      |                11682 |                       8856 |
| 8.       | Daman &Diu and Dadra &Nagar Haveli |                   38 |                         38 |
| 9.       | Goa#                               |                  191 |                          0 |
| 10.      | Gujarat*                           |                14287 |                      14119 |
| 11.      | Haryana                            |                 6259 |                       6082 |
| 12.      | Himachal Pradesh                   |                 3226 |                        406 |
| 13.      | Jammu &Kashmir                     |                 4281 |                       1076 |
| 14.      | Jharkhand*                         |                 4395 |                       4254 |
| 15.      | Karnataka                          |                 6086 |                       6083 |
| 16.      | Kerala                             |                  978 |                        978 |
| 17.      | Ladakh                             |                  193 |                        190 |
| 18.      | Lakshadweep                        |                   10 |                          9 |
| 19.      | Madhya Pradesh                     |                22841 |                      17340 |
| 20.      | Maharashtra*                       |                28238 |                      21977 |
| 21.      | Manipur                            |                 2785 |                       1436 |
| 22.      | Meghalaya                          |                 1791 |                        651 |
| 23.      | Mizoram                            |                  763 |                        452 |
| 24.      | Nagaland                           |                  994 |                        232 |
| 25.      | Odisha*                            |                 6799 |                       6617 |
| 26.      | Puducherry                         |                  108 |                         98 |
| 27.      | Punjab                             |                13337 |                      12668 |
| 28.      | Rajasthan                          |                11352 |                       8770 |
| 29.      | Sikkim                             |                  185 |                         24 |
| 30.      | Tamil Nadu*$                       |                12520 |                          0 |
| 31.      | Telangana*                         |                12769 |                       6886 |
| 32.      | Tripura                            |                 1021 |                        723 |
| 33.      | Uttar Pradesh                      |                59365 |                      36090 |
| 34.      | Uttarakhand                        |                 7962 |                       1649 |
| 35.      | West Bengal                        |                 3348 |                       2326 |
|          | Total                              |               264170 |                     172361 |

$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.

#  Goa  had  its  own  similar  broadband  network  and  thus  not  taken  up  under  Ph-I  &  Phase-II  of BharatNet Project.

Note: Delhi has no GPs and thus not taken up under BharatNet Project.

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