Bharat-Net fails to enter fast lane – Both phases staring at delay amid COVID

Source- The Indian Express

Relevance: Bharat-Net project is very important for digitisation of rural India

Synopsis – The Union cabinet revised the Bharat-Net implementation strategy to speed up the rollout of high-speed optical fiber-enabled broadband.

Introduction-

The Bharatnet project was meant to cover all 2.5 lakh gram panchayats [GM] with high-speed optical fiber-enabled broadband. It should have been completed by March 2019. Almost two years later, the government has only been able to connect up to 1.56 lakh GM.

What is Bharat-Net project and the reason behind its delay?

Bharat-Net project- The Project began in 2011 as the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN), and was renamed Bharat-Net in 2015.

However,

• In March 2020, the deadline for both the phases was pushed back to August 2021. Later it was again pushed beyond August 2021 due to COVID.

Major reason for Delay-

• Poor implementation-
  • Lack of approved detailed project report.
  • Non-existent project implementing agencies- no agency made responsible for project implementation.
• Non-availability of required funds.
• Right of way [RoW] challenge – RoW permission from Forest department, railways, and NHAI.
• COVID pandemic – The pace of the project was affected by the lockdown and movement curbs imposed due to COVID.
• Linear architecture– During phase 1, only single fibre path from the nearest exchange is available for endpoint connection at the gram panchaya [GP]. The GP site is isolated in the event of a failure due to the lack of a backup path.

What is the revised implementation strategy of the Bharat-Net project?

The government changed the scheme’s implementation strategy and decided to rope in private players to finish the pending work of the Bharat-Net project.

Read more –

• Revised Bharat Net Project