Lok Sabha Question No. 2119 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-02
Subject: Broadband Coverage
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Beesetti  Venkata Satyavathi, Reddeppa Nallakonda Gari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2119 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND  AUGUST, 2023

## BROADBAND COVERAGE

## 2119.   DR. BEESETTI VENKATA SATYAVATHI: SHRI N. REDDEPPA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has achieved full broadband and mobile coverage in all tribal areas of the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the details of the tribal areas, State-wise, that do not have broadband and mobile coverage; and
- (d) the steps taken by the Government to ensure full broadband and mobile coverage in all tribal areas?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c) Government of India and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) provide the telecommunication connectivity in the country including tribal areas in a phased manner. As per data provided by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), field units of Department of Telecommunications and  State  Governments,  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  6,00,384  number  of  villages  including tribal villages are covered with mobile broadband connectivity. State/UT-wise mobile broadband coverage is given in Annexure-I .

- (d) The Government has taken several initiatives for ensuring broadband and mobile coverage in rural areas including tribal areas:
- i.  BharatNet  project  is  being  implemented  in  a  phased  manner  to  provide  broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) and villages of the Country with broadband including the tribal areas. As on 30-06-2023, a total of  6,43,450 Kms Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) has been laid and 1,94,909 GPs are Service Ready (1,90,105 GPs on OFC & 4804 GPs on Satellite) under BharatNet project.
- ii.  Various  Projects  for  provision  of  4G  mobile  services  are  under  implementation  like Provision  of  4G  mobile  services  in  Aspirational  Districts,  Left  Wing  Affected  Areas, North  East  Region,  Comprehensive  Telecom  Development  Plan  for  Islands  (CTDPIslands) etc. In addition, Government has also launched 4G saturation project implemented by  Bharat  Sanchar  Nigam  Limited  (BSNL)  for  covering  all  uncovered  villages  in  the country including all tribal villages.

Annexure referred to in Part (a) to (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2119 to be answered on 02.08.2023

State/UT-wise details of mobile broadband coverage in villages including tribal areas of the country

| S.No.   | State Name                               |   No. of villages (as per data of Registrar General of India as of November 2019) |   No. of villages Covered with mobile broadband (March-22) |   Uncovered Villages (March 2022) |
|---------|------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 1       | Andaman & Nicobar Islands                |                                                                               559 |                                                        150 |                               409 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh                           |                                                                             17328 |                                                      14174 |                              3154 |
| 3       | ARUNACHAL PRADESH                        |                                                                              5993 |                                                       2371 |                              3622 |
| 4       | Assam                                    |                                                                             26429 |                                                      24266 |                              2163 |
| 5       | Bihar                                    |                                                                             44888 |                                                      44577 |                               311 |
| 6       | Chhattisgarh                             |                                                                             20072 |                                                      17562 |                              2510 |
| 7       | DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI AND DAMAN AND DIU |                                                                                95 |                                                         62 |                                33 |
| 8       | GOA                                      |                                                                               392 |                                                        348 |                                44 |
| 9       | GUJARAT                                  |                                                                             18425 |                                                      17704 |                               721 |
| 10      | Haryana                                  |                                                                              6640 |                                                       6631 |                                 9 |
| 11      | HIMACHAL PRADESH                         |                                                                             20852 |                                                      19037 |                              1815 |
| 12      | Jammu and Kashmir                        |                                                                              6474 |                                                       5645 |                               829 |
| 13      | Jharkhand                                |                                                                             32370 |                                                      30052 |                              2318 |
| 14      | Karnataka                                |                                                                             29818 |                                                      28652 |                              1166 |
| 15      | Kerala                                   |                                                                              1438 |                                                       1384 |                                54 |
| 16      | Ladakh                                   |                                                                               243 |                                                         93 |                               150 |
| 17      | Lakshadweep                              |                                                                                27 |                                                         23 |                                 4 |
| 18      | Madhya Pradesh                           |                                                                             55058 |                                                      51849 |                              3209 |
| 19      | Maharashtra                              |                                                                             43931 |                                                      40591 |                              3340 |
| 20      | Manipur                                  |                                                                              2612 |                                                       2081 |                               531 |
| 21      | Meghalaya                                |                                                                              7100 |                                                       4598 |                              2502 |
| 22      | Mizoram                                  |                                                                               867 |                                                        623 |                               244 |
| 23      | Nagaland                                 |                                                                              1535 |                                                       1083 |                               452 |
| 24      | NCT of Delhi                             |                                                                                55 |                                                         55 |                                 0 |
| 25      | Odisha                                   |                                                                             51176 |                                                      43656 |                              7520 |
| 26      | Puducherry                               |                                                                                96 |                                                         95 |                                 1 |
| 27      | Punjab                                   |                                                                             12534 |                                                      12519 |                                15 |
| 28      | Rajasthan                                |                                                                             46077 |                                                      42365 |                              3712 |
| 29      | Sikkim                                   |                                                                               461 |                                                        157 |                               304 |
| 30      | Tamil Nadu                               |                                                                             16488 |                                                      16010 |                               478 |
| 31      | Telangana                                |                                                                             10203 |                                                       9964 |                               239 |
| 32      | Tripura                                  |                                                                               937 |                                                        638 |                               299 |
| 33      | Uttar Pradesh                            |                                                                            105531 |                                                     105156 |                               375 |
| 34      | Uttarakhand                              |                                                                             16456 |                                                      15377 |                              1079 |
|         | Grand Total                              |                                                                            644131 |                                                     600384 |                             43747 |

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