Lok Sabha Question No. 490 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Internet Connectivity under BharatNet Project
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Ritesh Pandey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 490 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH  JULY, 2022

## INTERNET CONNECTIVITY UNDER BHARATNET PROJECT

## 490. 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 and if so, the details thereof along with the number of villages provided with internet connectivity under the BharatNet Project so far, State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether the Government is planning to merge the Bharat Broadband Network (BBNL) with the BSNL; if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the details of the reason behind the nonparticipation of any company in the tender floated in 2021 to revise the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for the Bharatnet project; and
- (d) whether the Government has reviewed the implementation of the broadband project design for rural areas and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) 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 04.07.2022, a total number of 1,77,550 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.

- (b) Yes  Sir.  Merger  of  Bharat  Broadband  Network  Limited  (BBNL)  with  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam Limited (BSNL) will bring greater synergy in the Operations & Maintenance and Utilization for BharatNet.
- (c) Global Bids were invited on 20.07.2021 for implementation of BharatNet under PPP model in 16 States and opened on 27.01.2022. However, no response was received.
- (d) No Sir.

## Annexure referred to in Parts (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question    No. 490 for answer on 20.07.2022

## State/UT-wise details of Service Ready GPs under BharatNet

| S. No.   | State                                    |   No. of Service Ready GPs |
|----------|------------------------------------------|----------------------------|
| 1        | Andaman &Nicobar Islands                 |                         39 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh*                          |                       2840 |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh                        |                        769 |
| 4        | Assam                                    |                       1511 |
| 5        | Bihar                                    |                       8307 |
| 6        | Chandigarh                               |                         12 |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh*                            |                       9102 |
| 8        | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu |                         38 |
| 9        | Delhi                                    |                          0 |
| 10       | Goa#                                     |                          0 |
| 11       | Gujarat*                                 |                      14180 |
| 12       | Haryana                                  |                       6082 |
| 13       | Himachal Pradesh                         |                        407 |
| 14       | Jammu &Kashmir                           |                       1082 |
| 15       | Jharkhand*                               |                       4291 |
| 16       | Karnataka                                |                       6083 |
| 17       | Kerala                                   |                        978 |
| 18       | Ladakh                                   |                        191 |
| 19       | Lakshadweep                              |                          9 |
| 20       | Madhya Pradesh                           |                      17692 |
| 21       | Maharashtra*                             |                      22124 |
| 22       | Manipur                                  |                       1440 |
| 23       | Meghalaya                                |                        654 |
| 24       | Mizoram                                  |                        452 |
| 25       | Nagaland                                 |                        232 |
| 26       | Odisha*                                  |                       6746 |
| 27       | Puducherry                               |                         98 |
| 28       | Punjab                                   |                      12668 |
| 29       | Rajasthan                                |                       8770 |
| 30       | Sikkim                                   |                         20 |
| 31       | Tamil Nadu*$                             |                          0 |
| 32       | Telangana*                               |                       7972 |
| 33       | Tripura                                  |                        726 |
| 34       | Uttar Pradesh                            |                      38010 |
| 35       | Uttarakhand                              |                       1662 |
| 36       | West Bengal                              |                       2363 |
|          | Total                                    |                     177550 |

Note:

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

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