Question : Bharat Net Project in Tamil Nadu

(a) the status of implementation of the Bharatnet Project, State/UT-wise along with the funds utilized from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for the said purpose;

(b) the details of implementation of the project in Karur district of Tamil Nadu;

(c) the length of optical fibre laid down in all Gram Panchayats (GPs) of the country under the said project along with the funds disbursed and utilized under the project during each of the last three years, State/UT-wise;

(d) the list of GPs that have been provided connectivity through satellite media along with the number of Wi-Fi hotspots installed in GPs State/UT-wise;

(e) the names of GPs that have not yet been connected with optical fibre, State/UT-wise including the GPs under the Karur district; and

(f) the reasons for the reported non-implementation of the aforesaid project in Tamil Nadu along with the details of utilization of funds of Rs. 121.45 crore for the said purpose?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS,
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

(a) BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) in the country. As on 24.02.2020, by laying 4,22,042 km Optical Fibre Cable (OFC), a total of 1,49,485 GPs (including Block Headquarters – BHQs) have been connected, out of which 1,34,682 Gram Panchayats(including BHQs) have been made Service Ready. In addition, 1659 GPs have been made Service Ready on satellite media.

The status of implementation of the BharatNet Project, State/UT-wise, is given in Annex-I. As on 28.02.2020, Rs. 22089.25 crore has been disbursed under BharatNet Project from Universal Service Obligation Fund. The details of the State/UT-wise funds released /utilised by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) in this respect are given in Annex-II. Further, the details of the State/UT-wise funds, directly released by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) to States/UTs, are given in Annex-III.

(b) All the Gram Panchayats (GPs) of Tamil Nadu, including GPs of Karur District, are to be provided broadband connectivity under BharatNet phase-II through the State-led model and are being implemented by Tamil Nadu Government. An RFP/tender has been floated for implementation of the Project.

(c) The details of the length of the optical fibre laid under BharatNet Project are given in Annex-I. Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) has disbursed Rs 5600 Crore, Rs. 6000 Crore, and Rs. 4145.54 Crore to Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) during 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 respectively, and the details of the State/UT-wise funds released /utilised by BBNL in this respect during each of the last three years, are given in Annex-IV.

(d) The State/UT-wise details of GPs that have been provided connectivity through satellite media along with the details of Wi-Fi hotspots installed in GPs are given in Annex-V.

(e) The State/UT-wise details of the GPs that have not been connected yet under BharatNet project are given in Annex-VI. In Karur District, all the GPs are to be provided connectivity under BharatNet phase-II.

(f) The Tamil Nadu State Government signed an MoU with USOF and BBNL only on 31.03.2017 for implementation of BharatNet project. As the MoU was signed very late, the GPs of Tamil Nadu could not be taken up in BharatNet Phase-I. Therefore, all the Gram Panchayats of Tamil Nadu State are being implemented by the State Government under BharatNet Phase-II of the Project. The State Government has floated an RFP/Tender for implementation of the Project, and the actual implementation work is yet to start.

Out of the Mobilisation advance given to Tamil Nadu State for the project, Rs 2.32 crore has been spent on Administrative Expenses and Establishment Cost as of February, 2020.