Central government has approved 36 thousand crore rupees to install 25 thousand new telecom towers in next 500 days in the country.
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This was stated by Electronics and Information Technology Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw while making his concluding remarks at the Digital India Conference of State IT Ministers in New Delhi. He said, the list of spots for installing towers is prepared in consultation with States and they can further review the list. Mr. Vaishnaw said that connectivity is vital for Digital India and its reach to every corner of the country.
The Minister congratulated all States and Union Territories for their speedy onboarding at PM Gati Shakti. He also informed that the special assistance to States for capital expenditure worth two thousand crore rupees has been sanctioned. Mr. Vaishnaw encouraged the States to be proactive and make business friendly policies to attract businesses to their States.
Minister of Communication Ashwini Vaishnaw was addressing the conference of states IT ministers. This was the first meeting Vaishnav had after the 5G rollout by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Almost all states IT ministers raised concern about the connectivity in their particular state, accepting connectivity as a challenge. Ashwini Vaishnaw said, As far as connectivity is concerned, states have to do heavy lifting in improving connectivity in the states.
Minister showed belief that with the revival of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited a large part of the connectivity gap will go away. “We have Rs 1.64 lakh crore for the revival of BSNL that would be enough to take care of their capital investment requirement, technology upgradation requirement.”
While giving his concluding remarks, Minister praised all the state governments for joining the PM Gati shakti master plan in a matter of 8 months and he said that the results of working together have been phenomenal.
According to a telecom ministry spokesperson, financial support for the project will be provided by Universal Services Obligation Fund and it will be implemented by Bharat Broadband Network.
Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and Information Technology and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MoS Communications Devusinh Chauhan and IT ministers from 12 states and UTs, namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Puducherry participated in the conference.