Lok Sabha Question No. 1512 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-28
Subject: BharatNet Project and Usage of USOF
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: P. Velusamy, K. Shanmuga Sundaram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1512 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28 th   JULY, 2021

## BHARATNET PROJECT AND USAGE OF USOF

## 1512. SHRI VELUSAMY P.:

SHRI SHANMUGA SUNDARAM K.:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) the total amount spent from the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for connecting villages under Bharat Net Project during each of the last three years;

(b) the  total  estimated  cost  of  completion  of  the  entire  project  of  connecting  all  the  villages  under different phases of the Bharat Net Project, State/UT-wise;

(c) the total number of villages that are covered with free wi-fi till date under the said project and the time by which entire villages are likely to be covered under the free wi-fi scheme; and

- (d) the number of Gram Panchayats that are covered under the Bharat Net Scheme?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to  (d)    BharatNet  project,  Phase-I  and  Phase-II,  is  being  implemented  to  provide broadband connectivity to the Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country.  The number of GPs has now increased from about 2,50,000 initially to 2,62,825, as in the intervening period new GPs have been notified by the State Governments.  Recently (on 30.6.2021), the Cabinet has approved a Public Private Partnership Model  for BharatNet for creation, upgradation, operation& maintenance  and  utilization  of  network  in  16  States  of  the  country.    These  States  are  Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal,  Assam,  Arunachal  Pradesh,  Meghalaya,  Manipur,  Mizoram,  Nagaland  and  Tripura. Further,  Cabinet  has  approved  to  extend  Optical  Fiber  connectivity  under  BharatNet  upto  all inhabited villages in the country.

The total approved cost for BharatNet project is now Rs. 61,109 crore.  This includes Rs. 42,068Crore  for  BharatNet  (Phase-I  and  Phase-II)  and  a  maximum  of  Rs.  19,041  crore  on Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for implementation of the Public Private partnership (PPP) model of BharatNet in 16 States.  Since the approval for extending Fiber connectivity to all inhabited villages in the country has been taken very recently, the estimated incremental cost for the same for all the States/ UTs has not been finalized.

During the last three years, Rs. 11723.07 crore has been disbursed from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for connecting Gram Panchayats under BharatNet Project.  The yearwise details are as under:

| Financial Year   |   Rs. in Crore |
|------------------|----------------|
| 2018-19          |        4145.54 |
| 2019-20          |        1657.74 |
| 2020-21          |        5919.79 |
| Total            |       11723.1  |

As part of the BharatNet Phase-I & II, the last mile connectivity, through Wi-Fi or any other  suitable  broadband  technology  is  to  be  provided  at  GP  level.    As  on  02.07.2021,  Wi-Fi hotspots  have  been  installed  in  1,04,310  GPs  of  Phase-I.    The  price  of  public  Wi-Fi  use  is appropriately fixed by the Service Provider. In Phase-II, in State-Led model, eight States namely Chhattisgarh,  Maharashtra,  Gujarat,  Tamil  Nadu,  Andhra  Pradesh,  Telangana,  Odisha  and Jharkhand  are  responsible  for  end  to end  activities including  utilization.    The  complete responsibility for creation, upgradation, Operation and Maintenance and utilization of the network will lie with the Concessionaire in PPP model.  The target date of completion for all the villages under BharatNet is August, 2023.

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