Telecom Lead India: 13 states and 3 Union territories (UTs) have signed pact for laying digital highways.
This will pave way for India’s UPA government to achieve its target of connecting 250,000 gram panchayats in India through optical fiber cable in two years.
13 state governments and 3 union territories signed tripartite memorandums of understanding for free Right of Way (RoW) with the Central Government and Bharat Broadband Network.
Telecom minister Kapil Sibal said it is upto the State governments to digitize all data, and make it interoperable not just within the state but also inside the country.
In all 140,727 GPs will covered by Optical Fibre Network in these States and UTs.
The central government, through Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), will fund the project while the contribution of state government would be by providing free Right of Way (RoW) for laying OFC.
The number of Gram Panchayats covered in these states/UTs are as below.
| S.No. | State Name | No. of Gram Panchayats |
| 1. | ANDHRA PRADESH | 21,693 |
| 2. | ARUNACHAL PRADESH | 1,756 |
| 3. | CHHATTISSGARH | 9,770 |
| 4. | DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI | 11 |
| 5. | DAMAN AND DIU | 14 |
| 6. | JHARKHAND | 4,423 |
| 7. | KARNATAKA | 5,631 |
| 8. | KERALA | 977 |
| 9. | MADHYA PRADESH | 23,024 |
| 10. | MANIPUR | 2,795 |
| 11 | MIZORAM | 776 |
| 12. | PUDUCHERRY | 98 |
| 13. | RAJASTHAN | 9,192 |
| 14. | TRIPURA | 1,038 |
| 15. | UTTAR PRADESH | 51,974 |
| 16. | UTTARAKHAND | 7,555 |
| Total | 140,727 |
