BharatNet plan to set up rural fibre networks slowed down in pandemic

Completion rate is less than a third, and at current pace it would take another two years to cover all gram panchayats in the country.

A government project that started two decades to set up high-speed fibre networks in rural areas is crawling and could miss its target again, data shows.

BharatNet, which was previously called National Optical Fibre Network, was to connect 100,000 gram panchayats by 2013. It took six years to achieve the target. The government connected 100,000 gram panchayats in December 2017.

Work has improved, but it would take another two years to cover all gram panchayats in the country. The government aimed to connect all 262,825 gram panchayats by March 2019. It has now set the target at 2025.

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If one considers connecting all villages, the completion rate is less than a third. According to a ministerial statement in Rajya Sabha, the government till March 1 had connected just 27 per cent villages.

A state-wise progress report shows that of the 33 states/ union territories (UT) for which data is available, 15 had a connectivity rate of less than 20 per cent. Connectivity ratio is defined as the proportion of villages made service ready under the Bharat Net programme and the total number of villages in the state.

Only Chandigarh and Punjab—a state and a union territory--had achieved over 90 per cent coverage. Only eight states/ UT had been able to make over 60 per cent of their villages service ready.

Most large states had lower connectivity ratios. Uttar Pradesh had a connectivity ratio of 35 per cent, whereas Bihar had been able to make 20.3 per cent of its villages service ready.

Himachal Pradesh had covered just 2.1 per cent of its villages, and West Bengal had covered 5.9 per cent. Assam had a connectivity ratio of 5.4 per cent.

Besides most states not achieving even half of the connectivity ratio, another issue is the dip in coverage during the pandemic.

Data shows that the growth rate in the number of villages connected had declined between 2020-21 and 2021-22. While the government had added 16.8 per cent more villages between 2018-19 and 2019-20, it was only able to add 14.2 per cent and 9 per cent villages for the next two years.

In terms of laying down optical fibre, the progress is about a third achieved before the pandemic. Between 2018-19 and 2019-20, the government had added 35.6 per cent more optical fibre network, but the progress in 2020-21 was just 19.8 per cent compared to the previous year and further declined to 10 per cent in 2021-22.

 

Moreover, a comparison of villages added with Budget data shows that the cost of adding more villages is rising. The government has missed its budget targets and spending less than the budgeted amount each year, it has also been paying more for coverage.

In 2020-21, it paid Rs 6.9 lakh to lay one kilometre of optic fibre cable; the cost increased to Rs 13.6 lakh in 2021-22. The average cost of laying a kilometre of optic fibre was Rs 6.3 lakh per km between 2016-17 and 2019-20.