(a) the amount earmarked for the development of Communication
system in various States in the country during the Tenth Five
Year Plan period and the details of amount spent so far, State-
wise and year-wise; and
(b) the steps taken or proposed to be taken to improve the
Communication system in the country?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DR. SHAKEEL AHMAD)
(a) The outlays and the amount spent for the development of
Communication system by BSNL in various States in the country
during the Tenth Five Year Plan period is given in Annexure-I
and Annexure-II respectively.
(b) To improve the communication system in the country,
several policy and regulatory initiatives have been taken. A
radically forward-looking Telecom Policy- 1999 is in the
process of implementation. The Policy encourages convergence
between telecom, information technology and media. As per the
policy, initiatives have been taken to ensure level playing
field for all the operators and attract private investment.
For providing rural telephony, a non-lapsable Universal
Service Obligation Fund has been created to support the
telecom operators providing their services in rural areas. An
amount of Rs. 1814.50 crore has been provided through this
fund during 2002-03 to 2004-05. To encourage broadband
connectivity in the country at a faster pace, Broadband Policy
has been announced in October, 2004 which is under
implementation. Efforts are also on to meet the spectrum
requirement of the fast expanding wireless telephony. The
telecom sector now is open for free competition and as a
result, tariffs have drastically declined during the last few
years, benefiting the consumers at large.
Today, all the Telephone Exchanges are digital electronic
and are connected on reliable media. Internet connectivity has
been provided in all the district headquarters. Further, of
the 6.07 lakh villages in the country, 5.31 lakh have been
provided Village Public Telephones as on 31.3.2005.
Annexure-I
STATE WISE / YEAR WISE OUTLAYS DURING THE TENTH FIVE YEAR PLAN (2002-07) FOR CAPITAL WORKS BY BSNL & MTNL (Rupees in crores) S.N Name of State Year o. 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 1. Andaman & 11.67 13.85 18.21 Nicobar 2. Andhra Pradesh 873.70 492.35 742.57 3. Assam 135.81 180.66 205.47 4. Bihar 404.22 322.20 393.12 5. Chhattisgarh 112.81 116.44 75.24 6. Gujarat 993.20 671.23 326.42 7. Haryana 313.28 306.24 300.15 8. Himachal Pradesh 110.43 113.86 162.72 9. Jammu & Kashmir 112.97 126.06 155.85 10. Jharkhand 242.37 130.43 167.08 11. Karnataka 604.14 619.71 840.46 12. Kerala 787.22 977.69 859.02 13. Madhya Pradesh 392.79 368.59 248.67 14. Maharashtra 1192.94 958.46 549.41 15. North East 130.23 151.55 165.65 16. Orissa 232.14 192.22 267.84 17. Punjab 587.67 481.76 434.86 18. Rajasthan 463.89 480.83 502.47 19. Tamil Nadu 906.79 655.39 977.08 20. Uttar Pradesh 907.81 734.94 900.97 21. Uttraranchal 124.64 89.14 106.81 22. West Bengal 637.60 558.93 840.84 23. Others* 1540.68 1865.46 2409.09 TOTAL: 11819.00 10608.00 11650.00 $ Others include Project Circles, Maintenance Regions, Training Centres, Telecom Factories etc. Note: The outlay for Tenth Five Year Plan for MTNL (Delhi & Mumbai) is Rs. 11955.46 crore.