In a move to expedite broadband connectivity in rural areas, the union government has sanctioned an additional outlay of INR 1.39 Lakh Cr for its flagship BharatNet initiative. The project aims to deliver last-mile broadband connectivity to 64 Lakh villages across India.
As per sources cited by The Hindu BusinessLine, this fresh allocation of funds was approved during a union cabinet meeting on August 4th. A senior official shared, “Cabinet has approved INR 1,39,579 Cr fund for providing last-mile optical fibre-based connectivity to homes in all the villages of the country. We have decided to scale it up in a significant way.”
Currently, 19.4 Lakh villages have been successfully connected under the initiative, and the plan is to extend connectivity to the remaining villages within the next two and a half years.
BharatNet, considered one of the world’s largest rural telecom projects, envisions providing last-mile broadband connectivity to all 2.5 Lakh gram panchayats in the country in a phased manner.
In the upcoming phase of implementation, Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) will collaborate with village-level entrepreneurs, impart training, and equip them with essential tools such as routers and additional fibre optic cables. These entrepreneurs will establish connections at homes.
BBNL, an arm of state telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), has been entrusted with the execution of the BharatNet project.
This decision to involve local entrepreneurs was reached following the successful completion of a pilot project that connected villages in four districts. The trial was expanded to over 60,000 villages involving 3,800 entrepreneurs across the nation.
During the pilot phase, more than 3.51 Lakh broadband connections were established, and households recorded an average monthly data consumption of 175 GBs (compared to 230 GB in urban areas).
Under the ‘enhanced’ execution model, village-level entrepreneurs will become partners, taking full responsibility for establishing and maintaining internet connections in their respective villages.
Compensation for these entrepreneurs will be based on a 50:50 revenue-sharing model between BBNL and the local businesspersons. Monthly broadband plans under the scheme start at INR 399 and go up to INR 799, offering a minimum speed of 30 MBPS.
The senior official noted that this initiative has the potential to create 25 Lakh jobs across the nation. He also mentioned that out of the total 37 Lakh route kilometers of Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) laid in the country, BBNL has accounted for 7.7 Lakh route kilometers of OFC.
The BharatNet project received its initial approval from the union cabinet in October 2011. The second phase of the project, approved in 2017, had a total funding of INR 42,068 Cr for both phases combined.
