CM Revanth Reddy urges Centre to provide Rs 1,779 cr interest free loan for T- Fiber project

New Delhi: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has informed Union minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia that the state government targets to provide fiber connections to 63 lakh households in the rural areas and 30 lakh households in urban areas at a cost of Rs 300 per month.

The Chief minister, accompanied by deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, met Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in New Delhi on Friday. The CM explained to the union minister that the state government is committed to providing connectivity to all Gram Panchayats, Mandals and Districts through optical fiber under the T-Fiber project.

CM Revanth Reddy apprised the union minister of the state government’s plan to provide internet services at Rs 300 per connection to 63 lakh households in the rural areas and 30 lakh in the urban areas, cable TV and e-education services, apart from extending G2G (Government to Government) and G2C (Government to Citizen) connectivity to 65,500 government institutions.

He informed Scindia that the state government has already provided a Rythu Nestham programme to 300 Rythu Vedikas through T- Fiber and the internet facility has been made available to social welfare schools.

The state government has already mobilized Rs 530 crore through various financial institutions for the proposed T- Fiber project which is being taken up at the cost of Rs 1779 crore, the CM said requesting the union minister to sanction Rs 1,779 crore interest-free long-term loan through Universal Service Obligation Fund (USFO) to the state government.

The Chief Minister urged union minister Scindia to provide the first phase of National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) infrastructure to the state government in time. The CM explained to the Union Minister that while the first phase of NOFN is running on the basis of linear architecture in some districts, T-Fiber is functioning on ring architecture in the remaining areas. Thus, it is proposed to provide NOFN first phase infrastructure in time for efficient management and utilization of the network.

Revanth Reddy also reminded the union minister that the state government had already sent the DPR to the union government in October last year requesting to convert the first phase of NOFN to Bharat Net-3 architecture. He appealed to Scindia to approve the DPR quickly.

The Chief Minister asserted that e-governance services will be provided to the citizens of 33 districts through Bharat Net-3 in the state. He requested the union Communications minister to apply the Bharat Net Movement scheme, which aims at providing high-speed internet facilities to rural areas, for the T- Fiber project.