Lok Sabha Question No. 927 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-26
Subject: Number of Villages with Internet Services
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Vivek Narayan Shejwalkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 927 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26 TH  JULY, 2023

## NUMBER OF VILLAGES WITH INTERNET SERVICES

## †927.   SHRI VIVEK NARAYAN SHEJWALKAR:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of villages in the country being provided with telecommunication and internet services at present;
- (b) the target fixed to connect the left out villages with telecommunication and internet services;
- (c) the  number of villages connected with telecom and internet services in Madhya Pradesh, district-wise; and
- (d) the target fixed to connect the remaining villages?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d) Government and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) provide telecommunication and mobile internet service in the country in a phased manner including the state of Madhya Pradesh. As per data provided from Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), Department of Telecom field unit and State Government as of March '2022, out of 6,44,131 villages (villages are as per data of Registrar General  of  India  as  of  November  2019),  around  6,05,230  number  of  villages  are  covered  with telecommunication and mobile internet services. In Madhya Pradesh out of 55,058 (as per RGI data of  November  2019)  village,  51,966  village  are  connected  with  telecommunication  and  mobile internet services. District wise details of telecom and internet service is attached in Annexure-I

Further, the Union Cabinet on 27.07.2022, has approved 4G Saturation scheme for providing 4G mobile coverage to the remaining villages of the country including the State of Madhya Pradesh. In addition, Government is implementing various schemes under Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to connect the left out villages with telecommunication and internet services. Details of major schemes with timelines are at Annexure-II.

.

Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in reply  of part (c)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  927 to  be answered on 26 th  July, 2023 raised by Hon'ble Member of Parliament regarding 'Number of Villages with Internet Services'

| SR. NO.   | DISTRICTS             | TOTAL VILLAGES   | Villages covered with telecom and internet services   |
|-----------|-----------------------|------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Agar-Malwa            | 499              | 488                                                   |
| 2         | Alirajpur             | 544              | 501                                                   |
| 3         | Anuppur               | 579              | 559                                                   |
| 4         | Ashoknagar            | 880              | 844                                                   |
| 5         | Balaghat              | 1394             | 1218                                                  |
| 6         | Barwani               | 707              | 566                                                   |
| 7         | Betul                 | 1457             | 1208                                                  |
| 8         | Bhind                 | 939              | 918                                                   |
| 9         | Bhopal                | 514              | 486                                                   |
| 10        | Burhanpur             | 265              | 245                                                   |
| 11        | Chhatarpur            | 1238             | 1116                                                  |
| 12        | Chhindwara            | 2002             | 1842                                                  |
| 13        | Damoh                 | 1216             | 1157                                                  |
| 14        | Datia                 | 663              | 657                                                   |
| 15        | Dewas                 | 1128             | 1069                                                  |
| 16        | Dhar                  | 1561             | 1464                                                  |
| 17        | Dindori               | 928              | 804                                                   |
| 18        | Guna                  | 1333             | 1283                                                  |
| 19        | Gwalior               | 590              | 545                                                   |
| 20        | Harda                 | 550              | 497                                                   |
| 21        | Hoshangabad           | 966              | 868                                                   |
| 22        | Indore                | 621              | 616                                                   |
| 23        | Jabalpur              | 1395             | 1383                                                  |
| 24        | Jhabua                | 821              | 812                                                   |
| 25        | Katni                 | 947              | 931                                                   |
| 26        | Khandwa (East Nimar)  | 718              | 683                                                   |
| 27        | Khargone (West Nimar) | 1409             | 1301                                                  |
| 28        | Mandla                | 1247             | 1145                                                  |
| 29        | Mandsaur              | 951              | 925                                                   |
| 30        | Morena                | 847              | 782                                                   |
| 31        | Narsimhapur           | 1058             | 1032                                                  |
| 32        | Neemuch               | 808              | 759                                                   |
| 33        | Niwari                | 281              | 281                                                   |
| 34        | Panna                 | 1035             | 921                                                   |
| 35        | Raisen                | 1486             | 1413                                                  |
| 36        | Rajgarh               | 1723             | 1680                                                  |
| 37        | Ratlam                | 1085             | 1055                                                  |
| 38        | Rewa                  | 2711             | 2681                                                  |
| 39        | Sagar                 | 2025             | 1953                                                  |
| 40        | Satna                 | 1953             | 1889                                                  |
| 41        | Sehore                | 1082             | 1035                                                  |
| 42        | Seoni                 | 1574             | 1516                                                  |
| 43        | Shahdol               | 836              | 806                                                   |
| 44        | Shajapur              | 632              | 617                                                   |
| 45        | Sheopur               | 609              | 506                                                   |
| 46        | Shivpuri              | 1355             | 1265                                                  |
| 47        | Sidhi                 | 1055             | 994 683                                               |
| 48        | Singrauli             | 761              |                                                       |
| 49        | Tikamgarh             | 682              | 674                                                   |
| 50 51     | Ujjain Umaria         | 1107 647         | 1102 612                                              |
| 52        | Vidisha               | 1644             | 1579                                                  |

2

Annexure referred to in reply  of  part  (b)  of Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  927  to  be answered on 26 th  July, 2023 raised by Hon'ble Member of Parliament regarding 'Number of Villages with Internet Services'

Details of major schemes/projects to improve the communication network/system in rural and remote areas across the country:

- (a) USOF 4G Saturation Scheme to cover 24,680 uncovered villages with 4G and 6,279 villages having 2G/3G connectivity are to be upgraded to 4G.  The estimated project cost is Rs. 26,316 Cr. Target date of completion is December 2023.
- (b) Provision of 4G  Mobile  Services in North Eastern Region of the country under Comprehensive Telecom Development Program for NER. The estimated cost for schemes is Rs. 3,637 Cr.
- (c) Hiring  of  10  Gbps  International  Bandwidth  through  BSNL  for  Internet  Connectivity  to Agartala from BSCCL, Bangladesh via Cox Bazar. Approval has been issued for hiring of additional 10 Gbps International Bandwidth also.
- (d) Provision of 4G mobile connectivity in 354 uncovered villages of J&K, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Border area & other priority areas. The estimated project cost is Rs. 337 Cr.
- (e) Provision of 4G mobile connectivity in 7,287 Aspirational District villages (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha). The estimated cost for projects is Rs. 6,466 Cr. Target date of completion is November 2023
- (f) Under  LWE  Phase-I  scheme,  2,343  mobile  towers  have  been  installed  in  LWE  areas. Provision for upgradation of LWE Phase-I from 2G to 4G has also been made. The estimated project cost is Rs. 3,567 Cr.
- (g) Under LWE Phase-II scheme, 2,542 mobile towers at  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  (MHA) identified locations are approved across the LWE States for provision of 4G mobile services. The estimated project cost is Rs. 2,211 Cr.
- (h) Scheme for providing  4G mobile  connectivity  in  502  uncovered  villages  of  Aspirational Districts in four States, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The estimated project cost is Rs. 686 Cr.
- (i) Provision  of  4G  Mobile  Coverage  in  85  uncovered  Villages  and  seamless  4G  Mobile coverage of NH223 in Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The estimated project cost is Rs. 130 Cr. Target date of completion is 14.11.2023.
- (j) Laying of submarine optical fibre cable between Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands for providing connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The estimated project cost is Rs. 1,224 Cr.
- (k) Submarine  OFC  connectivity  between  Kochi  and  Lakshadweep  Islands.  The  estimated project cost is Rs. 1,072 Cr.
- (l) BharatNet project to create network to connect all the Gram Panchayats and villages with broadband  infrastructure.  The  total  funding  of  the  BharatNet  (Phase-I  and  Phase-II), approved by the Cabinet, is Rs 42,068 crores (exclusive of taxes). Target date of completion is 2025.

*****