Lok Sabha Question No. 1475 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-04
Subject: Wi-Fi and High Speed Network
Ministry: COMMUNICATION
Asked by: Dr. Bachhav Shobha Dinesh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1475 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04 TH  DECEMBER, 2024

## WI-FI AND HIGH SPEED NETWORK

## †1475. DR. BACHHAV SHOBHA DINESH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether it is a fact that many remote rural areas of Maharashtra do not have Wi-Fi and other high-speed networks and mobile networks, if so, the details thereof;

- (b) whether it is causing a lot of hardships and miseries to the local citizens, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to overcome this problem;
- (d) whether the POS machines do not work there due to lack of network resulting in non-timely distribution of ration, if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether  there  is  any  proposal  to  install  mobile  towers  in  rural  and  remote  areas  in Maharashtra including Dhule Parliamentary Constituency; and

(f) if so, the details of mobile towers installed in remote and rural areas during the last five years, district-wise ?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)

(a) to (c) Out  of  43,931  villages  in  the  State  of  Maharashtra  (village  data  as  per  Registrar General  of  India),  around  41,514  villages  are  having  mobile  coverage  and  out  of  these,  40,526 villages are covered with 4G mobile connectivity.

Government is implementing various schemes under Digital Bharat Nidhi (erstwhile USOF) for expansion of telecom connectivity through installation of 4G mobile towers in the rural, tribal and remote areas of the country including Maharashtra. The 4G Saturation project is for provisioning of 4G mobile connectivity in 24,680 uncovered villages in the country, including Maharashtra. The project  has  a  provision  to  include  20%  additional  villages  on  account  of  rehabilitation,  newsettlements, withdrawal of services by existing operators etc.

BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) for broadband services, such as Wi-Fi Hotspots, Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections  etc.  Further,  the  Union  Cabinet  has  approved  Amended  BharatNet  Program  for provisioning of connectivity to all GPs in the country in ring topology including upgrading existing network and connectivity to about 3.8 Lakh non-GP villages on demand basis.

- (d) Department of Food and Public Distribution has developed the software for Electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices wherein the facility of recording offline Fair Price shop (FPS) transactions (without biometric authentication) is available in the event of non-availability of the network in ePoS devices and this facility is available across all ePoS devices.
- (e) Under  the  various  on-going  Digital  Bharat  Nidhi  (DBN)  funded  projects  including  4G Saturation Project, 1,093 towers have been installed in rural and remote areas in Maharashtra, out of which, 25 towers are installed in Dhule Parliamentary Constituency.
- (f) The District wise details of mobile towers installed by TSPs in rural areas in Maharashtra during the last five years are at Annexure-I .

Annexure referred to in reply of part (f) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1475 to be answered on 4 th  December, 2024 raised by Hon'ble Member of Parliament regarding 'Wi-Fi and High Speed Network'

District wise details of mobile towers installed by TSPs in rural areas in Maharashtra during the last five years:

| S. No.   | District                  | No. of Mobile towers installed in rural area of the district during last 5 years   |
|----------|---------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Ahmednagar                | 1,090                                                                              |
| 2        | Akola                     | 251                                                                                |
| 3        | Amravati                  | 485                                                                                |
| 4        | Beed                      | 667                                                                                |
| 5        | Bhandara                  | 161                                                                                |
| 6        | Buldhana                  | 578                                                                                |
| 7        | Chandrapur                | 192                                                                                |
| 8        | Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | 738                                                                                |
| 9        | Dharashiv                 | 456                                                                                |
| 10       | Dhule                     | 354                                                                                |
| 11       | Gadchiroli                | 462                                                                                |
| 12       | Gondia                    | 247                                                                                |
| 13       | Hingoli                   | 195                                                                                |
| 14       | Jalgaon                   | 702                                                                                |
| 15       | Jalna                     | 466                                                                                |
| 16       | Kolhapur                  | 807                                                                                |
| 17       | Latur                     | 546                                                                                |
| 18       | Nagpur                    | 536                                                                                |
| 19       | Nanded                    | 665                                                                                |
| 20       | Nandurbar                 | 295                                                                                |
| 21       | Nashik                    | 1,009                                                                              |
| 22       | Palghar                   | 433                                                                                |
| 23       | Parbhani                  | 382                                                                                |
| 24       | Raigad                    | 524                                                                                |
| 25       | Ratnagiri                 | 379                                                                                |
| 26       | Sangli                    | 585                                                                                |
| 27       | Satara                    | 754                                                                                |
| 28       | Sindhudurg                | 156                                                                                |
| 29       | Solapur                   | 889                                                                                |
| 30       | Thane                     | 471                                                                                |
| 31       | Wardha                    | 145                                                                                |
| 32       | Washim                    | 137                                                                                |
| 33       | Yavatmal                  | 528                                                                                |
| Total    | Total                     | 16,285                                                                             |

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