PPP model of BharatNet: DoT starts meets, hopes to float bid by Sept-end

The DoT hopes to come out with the bid for the PPP mode implementation of BharatNet not later by September end, the official said. Earlier this year in June, the Union Cabinet had approved a plan to rope in the private sector to complete the pending work on BharatNet, the Central government’s flagship scheme to provide internet connectivity to all 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in the country.

As part of the plan, under a PPP model, the concessionaire will be selected through a competitive international bidding process and will be responsible for creation, upgradation, operation, maintenance and utilisation of BharatNet. The revised strategy will be followed in 16 states for now.

The implementation of BharatNet under PPP model is estimated to cost Rs 29,432 crore, of which the government will spend Rs 19,041 crore as viability gap funding. The PPP model will initially be launched in Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh, with an aim to connect 3.61 lakh villages with internet. The government has created nine packages among these 16 states, and no player will be allowed to bid for over four packages. A package will be roughly equal to a telecom licensed area or a telecom circle, which can either be a state or group of states.

The Indian Express, in January 2020, reported that with the panchayat internet connectivity scheme floundering at the last mile due to the failure of the implementation agencies, the DoT had been looking to rope in the private sector to complete the pending projects under Phase 1 and 2 of BharatNet.