Question : Optical Fibre Cable

(a) the details of optical fibre cable laid in Jharkhand, North-eastern States including Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh under the National Optical Fibre Network Project so far; and the time-frame to achieve the remaining targets;

(b) the details of the number of gram panchayats of Singhbhum district in Jharkhand, Darang, Udalguri and Nalbari districts in Assam, Rohtas, Kaimur and Supaul districts in Bihar, Jammu district in Jammu-Kashmir, Sidhi district in Madhya Pradesh and the various districts of Maharashtra and Haryana connected with broadband and wi-fi hotspot under the said project so far;

(c) the number of such gram panchayats in above said districts of respective States which have not been connected under the said project so far including the reasons therefor;

(d) the details of the amount allocated, released and spent under the said project during the last three years along with the cost outlay to complete the said project year and State-wise; and

(e) the details of the problems faced in the implementation of the said project?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS
(SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) The details of optical fibre cable laid in Jharkhand, North Eastern states including Assam, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh under BharatNet, earlier known as National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN), are given in Annexure-I. The time frame to achieve the remaining targets is August 2023.


(b) & (c) Under BharatNet Project, the details of the number of Service Ready Gram Panchayats (GPs), the number of GPs where Wi-Fi hotspot installed and the number of GPs which are yet to be made Service Ready, are given in Annexure-II. Reasons for not connecting GPs so far are delay in implementation by the States in State led model, widely dispersed Gram Panchayats (GPs) across remote corners, covering difficult terrains (including Hilly/ Rocky), Right of Way (RoW) issues, etc.

(d) Total estimated project cost for Phase-I and Phase-II of BharatNet, approved by the Cabinet, is Rs. 42,068 crore. Further, the maximum viability gap funding of Rs. 19,041 crores has also been approved for implementation of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for BharatNet in 16 States. Therefore, approval has been accorded for total estimated cost of Rs. 61,109 crores for BharatNet. The State-wise details of funds disbursed under CAPEX by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (the Executing Agency for the Project) during last three years, are given in Annexure-III.

(e) Under BharatNet Phase-II, about 65,000 GPs in 8 States are being implemented under State-led model. The implementation in some of the States is not meeting the targeted time-lines and is adversely affecting the completion of the Project. Further, the other problems faced in the implementation of the project are on account of widely dispersed Gram Panchayats (GPs) across remote corners of the country, covering difficult terrains (including Hilly/ Rocky), Right of Way (RoW) issues and also difficulty of access in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas.