Lok Sabha Question No. 3705 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-08-12
Subject: Call Centres in Rural Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: SHASHI THAROOR

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)

### LOK SABHA

####### UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  3705

##### TO BE ANSWERED ON: 12.08.2015

**CALL CENTRES IN RURAL AREAS**

**3705. 	  DR. SHASHI THAROOR:**

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

1. whether the Government proposes to introduce a scheme for establishing call centres in rural areas including in Thiruvananthapuram as new destinations for Business Process Management (BPM);
2. if so, the details thereof including the funds earmarked for Thiruvananthapuram;
3. whether the Government has undertaken a study of the available infrastructure in the proposed areas for identifying the availability of round the clock power, broadband connectivity and the internet necessary for running a call centre and if so, the details thereof;
4. whether the proposed areas are likely to receive priorities over other cities and districts under schemes such as the National Optical Fibre Network, the Deendayal Upadhayay Gram Jyoti Yojana; and
5. if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

##### 

##### ANSWER

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) and (b): The Government has approved India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS) for promotion of BPO/ITES operations across the country including small towns and rural areas, with an outlay of about Rs.493 crores during the remaining period of 12 th Five Year Plan i.e., upto 31.03.2017, for balanced growth of Information Technology & Information Technology Enabled Services (IT/ITES) sector in each State. About 48300 seats have been planned with distribution across State(s)/UT(s) based on population percentage as per Census 2011 (States/UT-wise details are given at (ANNEXURE) including 1500 seats earmarked for the State of Kerela *.* In addition 5000 seats have been planned for the States of North East Region under the North East BPO Promotion Scheme (NEBPS), which stands notified.  There is no state-wise allocation of funds under the IBPS/NEBPS.

(c)  to (e):  under the IBPS, entrepreneurs/interested entities are expected to satisfy themselves regarding availability of the requisite infrastructure including broadband connectivity in the proposed areas identified by them in various regions for setting up the BPO/ITES operations. The IBPS, inter-alia, involves 2 stage approach, initially, Expression of Interest (EoI) is proposed to be invited from the interested companies, to assess the market potential and interest at various locations across the States, then bids would be invited from eligible applicant companies, through a Request For Proposal (RFP).

********

**ANNEXURE**

| **IBPS BPO Seats Distribution across State(s)/UT(s) based on population % as per Census 2011**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |                  |                  |                           |                                          |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------|------------------|---------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| **State/UT**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | **Population**   | **Population %** | **Seats by population %** | **Seats Rounded-off to nearest hundred** |
| Andhra Pradesh                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     | 493,86,799       | 4.56             | 2,189                     | **2200**                                 |
| Bihar                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              | 1040,99,452      | 9.61             | 4,615                     | **4600**                                 |
| Chhattisgarh                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | 255,45,198       | 2.36             | 1,132                     | **1100**                                 |
| Goa                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | 14,58,545        | 0.13             | 65                        | **100**                                  |
| Gujarat                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | 604,39,692       | 5.58             | 2,679                     | **2700**                                 |
| Haryana*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           | 230,44,841       | 2.13             | 1,022                     | **1000**                                 |
| Himachal Pradesh                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 68,64,602        | 0.63             | 304                       | **300**                                  |
| Jammu & Kashmir                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | 125,41,302       | 1.16             | 556                       | **600**                                  |
| Jharkhand                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | 329,88,134       | 3.05             | 1,462                     | **1500**                                 |
| Karnataka*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 525,95,898       | 4.86             | 2,333                     | **2300**                                 |
| Kerala                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | 334,06,061       | 3.09             | 1,481                     | **1500**                                 |
| Madhya Pradesh                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     | 726,26,809       | 6.71             | 3,219                     | **3200**                                 |
| Maharashtra*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | 889,10,077       | 8.21             | 3,941                     | **3900**                                 |
| Orrisa                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | 419,74,218       | 3.88             | 1,861                     | **1900**                                 |
| Punjab                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | 277,43,338       | 2.56             | 1,230                     | **1200**                                 |
| Rajasthan                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | 685,48,437       | 6.33             | 3,039                     | **3000**                                 |
| Telangana*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 274,44,644       | 2.53             | 1,214                     | **1200**                                 |
| Tamilnadu*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 634,51,020       | 5.86             | 2,813                     | **2800**                                 |
| Uttar Pradesh*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     | 1991,69,960      | 18.39            | 8,827                     | **8800**                                 |
| Uttarakhand                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 100,86,292       | 0.93             | 447                       | **400**                                  |
| West Bengal*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | 771,63,579       | 7.13             | 3,422                     | **3400**                                 |
| Andaman & Nicobar Island                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           | 3,80,581         | 0.04             | 17                        | **100**                                  |
| Chandigarh                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 10,55,450        | 0.10             | 47                        | **100**                                  |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               | 3,43,709         | 0.03             | 15                        | **100**                                  |
| Daman & Diu                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 2,42,911         | 0.02             | 11                        | **100**                                  |
| Lakshadweep                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 64,429           | 0.01             | 3                         | **100**                                  |
| Puducherry                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 12,47,953        | 0.12             | 55                        | **100**                                  |
| **Total**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | **10828,23,931** | **100.00**       | **48,000**                | **48,300**                               |
| **Note:**  1. ***Total 48,000 seats have been distributed based on population percentage among States/UTs as per Census 2011, and then rounded-off to nearest 100.*** 2. ***Minimum seats support for a State/UT = 100*** 3. ****Population of all the States of North East Region and Urban Agglomeration Population of certain cities [Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR (Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida), Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune] is subtracted from the respective State's Population and subsequently from overall population of Country.*** |                  |                  |                           |                                          |