Chhattisgarh is among 8 States in the country which has its own State-led model for implementation of BharatNet project in the State, the Central Government has informed.
The eight States namely Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Telangana are implementing BharatNet projet under State-led model and MoUs have been signed with the States, it informed.
The BharatNet project is targetted to be completed by March, 2019.
Notably, BharatNet is a project initiated by the Central Government and funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) with an aim to provide broadband connectivity to over 250,000 Gram Panchayats of India.
The project aims to provide internet access using Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) and extending it to the Gram Panchayats (GPs). The project is intended to enable the Central Government to provide e-services and e-applications nationally, transforming India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy is the most critical and important action item for Digital India.
The BharatNet project is of national importance, with a highly scalable network infrastructure to provide on demand, easily affordable broadband internet connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for all households and on demand capacity to all institutions, to realize the vision of Digital India, in partnership with the states and the private sector, officials informed.
The Chhattisgarh Government on December 30 last year had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre for the implementation of second phase of BharatNet project .
Chief Minister Raman Singh had stated that Chhattisgarh is entering a new era of 'Digital Revolution'.
He was addressing a function after signing of MoU of BharatNet Project in Naya Raipur between the State Government and Central Government.
Union Minister of State for Communication Manoj Sinha was the chief guest on the occasion.
BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner for providing broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (approx. 2,50,000) in the country. As part of project execution, the survey is conducted by the implementing Agency for connecting the Gram Panchayats. In Bihar and Punjab the project is being implemented under Private sector model through Bharat Broadband Network limited (BBNl).
Two States namely Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and eight States namely Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, West Bengal and Sikkim are implementing BharatNet project through PGCIl and BSNl respectively under CPSU led model, the Government informed.
About 6407 GPs, located in remote and hilly locations with poor connectivity, are being connected on Satellite media.
In Karnataka, 6076 GPs have been connected under BharatNet project and the remaining 9 GPs are under implementation.
Further, as part of this project, the last mile connectivity, through Wi-fi or any other suitable broadband technology, is being provided at all the GPs in the country, including Karnataka, through CSC-SPV, State Government and BBNl. At each GP, 5 Access Points (APs) are being provided, out of which 3 APs are at Government institution and 2 APs at public places.