Lok Sabha Question No. 320 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-27
Subject: BharatNet Project
Ministry: COMMUNICATION
Asked by: Shri Benny Behanan, Shri Anto Antony

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 320 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 TH  NOVEMBER, 2024

## BHARATNET PROJECT

## 320 SHRI ANTO ANTONY: SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

|                  | SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (a) Year-wise;   | the total number of Gram Panchayats connected under the BharatNet project, State-wise and                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| (b)              | the reasons for failing to achieve the target of connecting all 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats;                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| (c) areas,       | the challenges faced in expanding telecommunications infrastructure in rural and remote particularly in the north eastern States; and                                                                                                                                                                               |
| (d)              | the steps undertaken by the Government to improve the quality of internet services in rural regions and to bridge the urban-rural divide?                                                                                                                                                                           |
| ANSWER           | ANSWER                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| (a) Cable        | State-wise and Year-wise total number of Gram Panchayats (GPs) connected by Optical Fibre (OFC)/Satellite link under the BharatNet Project is given in Annexure-I .                                                                                                                                                 |
| (b) BharatNet of | BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (around 2.64 lakh) in the country. Till Oct end, 2024, under Phase-I and Phase-II; 2,14,283 GPs are service ready. This is against the planned network 2,22,343 GPs in Phase-I and Phase-II. |
| (c) areas,       | Challenges were faced in expansion of telecommunications infrastructure in rural and remote such as:                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|                  | ii.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|                  | Limited working season specially in northeastern states                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|                  | iii. Difficulty in getting Right of Way (RoW) issues in various states                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| iv.              | Non-availability of stable power supply in GPs                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |

- (d) Steps undertaken to improve quality of internet services in rural regions and to bridge the urban-rural divide:
- i. 4G Saturation of uncovered Villages and upgrade of 2G/3G Mobile coverage to 4G.
- ii. Providing  submarine  cable  connectivity  to  Lakshadweep  and  Andaman  and  Nicobar Islands
- iii. Engaging agencies to address the issue of fibre cut for existing BharatNet network Phase I/II
- iv. Approval of Amended BharatNet Program to provide high speed broadband connectivity to all inhabited villages in the country. The design improvement, at a cost of Rs. 1,39,579 crore,  in  Amended  BharatNet  Program  addresses  several  shortcomings  of  earlier BharatNet which is as follows:
- a) Optical fiber connectivity from Block to GP in Ring topology
- b) IP- MPLS network with Routers at Blocks and GPs
- c) Provision of optical fiber connectivity to non-GP villages on demand basis
- d) Provision for Operation and maintenance for 10 years, including monitoring of network uptime through Centralized Network Operating Centre (CNOC) and payment to Project Implementation Agency (PIA) as per Service Level Agreement (SLA)
- e) Provision of Power backup of adequate level at GPs and Blocks
- f) Provision of Remote Fibre Monitoring System (RFMS) at Block for fibre monitoring

Annexure referred to in Part (a) of the Lok Sabha Question No. 320 for answer on 27.11.2024

## State-wise and Year-wise total number of Gram Panchayats connected under the BharatNet Project

|   S. No. | Name of States      |   Mar- 13 |   Mar- 14 |   Mar- 15 |   Mar- 16 |   Mar- 17 |   Mar-18 |   Mar-19 |   Mar-20 |   Mar-21 |   Mar-22 |   Mar-23 |   Mar-24 |   Till end of Oct- 24 |
|----------|---------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|----------|-----------------------|
|        1 | Andaman& Nicobar    |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |        0 |        0 |        7 |       23 |       29 |       72 |       72 |                    72 |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh      |        13 |        13 |        13 |        13 |        13 |       13 |     1398 |     1639 |     1700 |     1716 |     5209 |    12955 |                 12955 |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh   |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |       13 |      105 |      327 |      657 |      769 |      964 |     1104 |                  1123 |
|        4 | Assam               |         0 |         0 |         0 |        88 |       329 |     1397 |     1496 |     1496 |     1497 |     1511 |     1511 |     1511 |                  1507 |
|        5 | Bihar               |         0 |         0 |         0 |       204 |       416 |     4692 |     5525 |     7961 |     8293 |     8307 |     8316 |     8340 |                  8340 |
|        6 | Chandigarh          |         0 |         0 |         0 |        12 |        12 |       12 |       12 |       12 |       12 |       12 |       12 |       12 |                    12 |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh        |         0 |         0 |         0 |       495 |      1250 |     3533 |     4017 |     4773 |     7534 |     8971 |     9584 |     9695 |                  9695 |
|        8 | Dadra &Nagar Haveli |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |       14 |       20 |       20 |       20 |       20 |       20 |       20 |                    20 |
|        9 | Daman &Diu          |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |        0 |       15 |       16 |       16 |       18 |       18 |       18 |                    18 |
|       10 | Gujarat             |         0 |         0 |         0 |       116 |       491 |     4764 |     5375 |    11680 |    13303 |    14144 |    14260 |    14316 |                 14316 |
|       11 | Haryana             |         0 |         0 |         0 |       149 |       640 |     5757 |     6069 |     6071 |     6081 |     6082 |     6082 |     6082 |                  6082 |
|       12 | Himachal Pradesh    |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |      164 |      222 |      275 |      365 |      406 |      408 |      409 |                   410 |
|       13 | Jammu& Kashmir      |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |      168 |      646 |      863 |      997 |     1078 |     1092 |     1099 |                  1101 |
|       14 | Jharkhand           |         0 |         0 |         0 |       121 |       356 |     1455 |     2261 |     2427 |     3522 |     4279 |     4357 |     4384 |                  4390 |
|       15 | Karnataka           |         0 |         0 |        32 |      2864 |      4825 |     6069 |     6080 |     6080 |     6080 |     6083 |     6084 |     6084 |                  6084 |
|       16 | Kerala              |         0 |         0 |       295 |       977 |       977 |      977 |      977 |      977 |      977 |      978 |      978 |      978 |                   978 |
|       17 | Ladakh              |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |        0 |       50 |      167 |      184 |      190 |      192 |      193 |                   193 |

## Annexure-I

|   18 | Lakshadweep    |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 |     0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      9 |      9 |      9 |      9 |
|------|----------------|-----|-----|-----|------|-------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
|   19 | Madhya Pradesh |   0 |   0 |   0 |  145 |  2559 |  11560 |  12547 |  12942 |  15169 |  17652 |  17837 |  17850 |  17850 |
|   20 | Maharashtra    |   0 |   0 |   0 |  127 |  1597 |  13572 |  14976 |  15644 |  18955 |  22124 |  23951 |  24253 |  24575 |
|   21 | Manipur        |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 |    24 |    121 |    316 |    947 |   1423 |   1436 |   1467 |   1469 |   1469 |
|   22 | Meghalaya      |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 |     0 |    122 |    187 |    256 |    580 |    652 |    682 |    695 |    697 |
|   23 | Mizoram        |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 |     0 |     18 |     32 |    235 |    422 |    452 |    452 |    507 |    532 |
|   24 | Nagaland       |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 |     0 |     61 |     98 |    129 |    222 |    232 |    232 |    232 |    236 |
|   25 | Odisha         |   0 |   0 |   0 |  104 |   462 |   2482 |   3524 |   4021 |   5818 |   6672 |   6782 |   6785 |   6785 |
|   26 | Puducherry     |   0 |   0 |   0 |   98 |    98 |     98 |     98 |     98 |     98 |     98 |     98 |     98 |     98 |
|   27 | Punjab         |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 |   237 |   6758 |   7887 |  12539 |  12664 |  12668 |  12668 |  12668 |  12668 |
|   28 | Rajasthan      |  30 |  30 |  30 |  282 |  1188 |   8014 |   8352 |   8598 |   8759 |   8770 |   8770 |   8776 |   8776 |
|   29 | Sikkim         |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 |     0 |      4 |     13 |     22 |     22 |     24 |     35 |     35 |     35 |
|   30 | Tamil Nadu     |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 |     0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 |   1922 |   8405 |  10295 |
|   31 | Telangana      |   0 |   0 |   0 |  105 |   125 |   1996 |   1996 |   1996 |   3647 |   7260 |   9410 |  10800 |  10825 |
|   32 | Tripura        |  15 |  15 |  15 |   73 |    75 |    477 |    506 |    665 |    711 |    726 |    731 |    740 |    740 |
|   33 | Uttar Pradesh  |   0 |   0 |   0 |  186 |  1392 |  27082 |  27859 |  28759 |  31069 |  36911 |  41780 |  46408 |  46729 |
|   34 | Uttarakhand    |   0 |   0 |   0 |  183 |   284 |   1365 |   1480 |   1502 |   1537 |   1653 |   1863 |   1983 |   1991 |
|   35 | West Bengal    |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 |   205 |   1990 |   2039 |   2187 |   2262 |   2350 |   2593 |   2676 |   2677 |
|   36 | Total          |  58 |  58 | 385 | 6342 | 17555 | 104748 | 116178 | 135331 | 154619 | 174282 | 190441 | 211661 | 214283 |

Note: Delhi has no GPs and thus not taken up under BharatNet Project. Goa had its own similar broadband network and thus not taken up under Phase-I and Phase-II of BharatNet Project.

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