Lok Sabha Question No. 970 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-26
Subject: Expansion of Telecom Services
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Nayab Singh, Gyaneshwar Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 970 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26 TH  JULY, 2023

## EXPANSION OF TELECOM SERVICES

## 970. SHRI NAYAB SINGH: SHRI GYANESHWAR PATIL:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the plans made by the Government for expansion of telecom services in rural, backward  and  tribal  areas  especially  in  Kurukshetra  district  of  Haryana  and  in  Khandwa  and Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh;
- (b) the details of the targets set and achieved for providing telecom services and connectivity during the last three years, State-wise especially in the States of Haryana and Madhya Pradesh;

(c) the number of new mobile towers proposed to be installed and having been installed in the districts identified in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh to enhance the network quality in the rural and tribal areas especially in Naraingarh and Khandwa; and

- (d) the details of the funds allocated/spent by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d) Government is implementing various schemes under Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for expansion of telecom connectivity through installation of mobile towers in the rural, tribal and remote areas of the country including the states of Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. In Madhya Pradesh, 3353 villages are proposed to be covered under USOF scheme for providing mobile connectivity, out of which 42 villages are in Khandwa and 13 villages are in Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh. The major USOF schemes are at Annexure-I.

As per data provided by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), Department of Telecommunications field units and State Governments, as of March, 2022, there are 413 villages in Kurukshetra  district  and  172  villages  in  Naraingarh  sub  district  in  the  State  of  Haryana  and  all villages are covered with mobile connectivity. In State of Madhya Pradesh, out of 718 villages of Khandawa district and 265 villages of Burhanpur district, 683 villages in Khandawa district and 245 villages in Burhanpur district have been covered with mobile connectivity. State wise detail of mobile towers installed during last three years in the country including the states of Haryana and Madhya Pradesh is attached at Annexure-II.

As on 30-06-2023, a sum of ₹360.90 Crore for Madhya Pradesh and ₹0.82 Crore for Haryana have  been  allocated/  disbursed  /  spent  under  ongoing  Mobile  Projects  of  Universal  Service Obligation Fund.

## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in reply of part (a) to (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 970 to be answered on 26 th  July, 2023 raised by Hon'ble Member of Parliament regarding 'Expansion of Telecom Services'

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

- i. 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.
- ii. 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. 3637 Cr.
- iii. 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.
- iv. 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.
- v. 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. 6466 Cr.
- vi. 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. 3567 Cr.
- vii. 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. 2211 Cr.
- viii. 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.
- ix. 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.
- x. 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. 1224 Cr.
- xi. Submarine  OFC  connectivity  between  Kochi  and  Lakshadweep  Islands.  The  estimated project cost is Rs. 1072 Cr.
- xii. 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).

Annexure-II Annexure referred to in reply of part (a) to (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 970 to be answered on 26 th  July, 2023 raised by Hon'ble Member of Parliament regarding 'Expansion of Telecom Services'

State/UT-wise BTS details

| SN    | State/UT                 |   No. of BTSs as on 31.03.2021 |   No. of BTSs as on 31.03.2022 |   No. of BTSs as on 31.03.2023 |   No. of BTSs as on 30.06.2023 |
|-------|--------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 1     | Andaman & Nicobar (UT)   |                            572 |                            776 |                            894 |                            959 |
| 2     | Andhra Pradesh           |                          80895 |                          80811 |                          89051 |                          96766 |
| 3     | Arunachal Pradesh        |                           3724 |                           4154 |                           4700 |                           5138 |
| 4     | Assam                    |                          50314 |                          53092 |                          57555 |                          61414 |
| 5     | Bihar                    |                          95020 |                         105098 |                         117427 |                         125291 |
| 6     | Chandigarh (UT)          |                           3672 |                           3506 |                           3984 |                           4073 |
| 7     | Chhattisgarh             |                          40500 |                          43654 |                          46546 |                          48919 |
| 8     | Dadra& Nagar Haveli (UT) |                            719 |                            789 |                            803 |                            974 |
| 9     | Daman (UT)               |                            778 |                            748 |                            816 |                            811 |
| 10    | Delhi                    |                          65056 |                          68585 |                          79446 |                          81330 |
| 11    | Diu (UT)                 |                            145 |                            146 |                            129 |                            136 |
| 12    | Goa                      |                           6848 |                           5558 |                           6256 |                           6655 |
| 13    | Gujarat                  |                         134821 |                         140903 |                         149213 |                         157637 |
| 14    | Haryana                  |                          74608 |                          78342 |                          85311 |                          91100 |
| 15    | Himachal Pradesh         |                          23518 |                          24286 |                          25912 |                          27022 |
| 16    | Jammu& Kashmir           |                          31943 |                          33142 |                          36365 |                          38868 |
| 17    | Jharkhand                |                          42426 |                          47496 |                          53146 |                          56341 |
| 18    | Karnataka                |                         143882 |                         147803 |                         161635 |                         170957 |
| 19    | Kerala                   |                          89119 |                          93534 |                         101163 |                         110074 |
| 20    | Ladakh                   |                            985 |                           1152 |                           1352 |                           1443 |
| 21    | Lakshadweep (UT)         |                             62 |                             66 |                             68 |                             69 |
| 22    | Madhya Pradesh           |                         114344 |                         119708 |                         127744 |                         135445 |
| 23    | Maharashtra              |                         239720 |                         244332 |                         260494 |                         271509 |
| 24    | Manipur                  |                           6866 |                           7299 |                           8056 |                           8223 |
| 25    | Meghalaya                |                           6111 |                           6942 |                           7446 |                           7720 |
| 26    | Mizoram                  |                           3294 |                           3579 |                           3936 |                           4091 |
| 27    | Nagaland                 |                           4843 |                           5035 |                           5433 |                           5686 |
| 28    | Odisha                   |                          66142 |                          70990 |                          77951 |                          83659 |
| 29    | Puducherry (UT)          |                           2455 |                           2483 |                           2716 |                           2794 |
| 30    | Punjab                   |                          78657 |                          79669 |                          85141 |                          90713 |
| 31    | Rajasthan                |                         122203 |                         127623 |                         139175 |                         147656 |
| 32    | Sikkim                   |                           2338 |                           2476 |                           2583 |                           2637 |
| 33    | Tamilnadu                |                         159999 |                         159959 |                         172769 |                         186293 |
| 34    | Telangana                |                          85490 |                          86737 |                          96786 |                         103286 |
| 35    | Tripura                  |                           7474 |                           7856 |                           8427 |                           8849 |
| 36    | Uttar Pradesh            |                         276759 |                         293692 |                         322364 |                         340303 |
| 37    | Uttarakhand              |                          28481 |                          30264 |                          32732 |                          34401 |
| 38    | West Bengal              |                         145493 |                         150265 |                         166688 |                         176421 |
| Grand | Total                    |                        2240276 |                        2332550 |                        2542213 |                        2695663 |

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