The Cabinet today cleared setting up mobile towers at cost of around Rs 3,046 crore in nine states affected by naxal violence to improve communication.
State-owned BSNL will set up towers at 2,199 locations in the nine states in next 12 months, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
"The Cabinet has approved Telecom Ministry's proposal to install mobile towers in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected states...In total there are nine such states," he said.
The decision of the Cabinet comes 10 days after a Maoist attack at Bastar in Chattisgarh in which 27 people, including senior Congress leaders, were killed.
The nine states are Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
"Universal Sevice Obligation Fund (USOF) would fund the capex and opex net of revenue for 5 years. Maximum outgo from the USO fund is estimated to be Rs 3,046.12 crore," he said.
The towers which have been a long-pending demand of the Home Ministry, will strengthen the telecom network resulting in increased penetration in LWE affected areas and other areas facing security challenges, he added.
BSNL has already installed towers at 363 locations.
Ministry of Home Affairs has asked Department of Telecommunications to get project completed by BSNL with a year and said that in the first phase towers should be installed in proximity with security force establishments.
