The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has proposed not to monetise rural broadband network infrastructure built under the Bharatnet project. It plans to replace it with alternative assets to achieve the target fixed under the National Monetisation Pipeline.
- Bharatnet Project is the world’s largest rural broadband connectivity programme using Optical fibre.
- It is implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Ltd. (BBNL) which is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) set up by the Government of India under the Companies Act, 1956 with an authorised capital of Rs 1000 crore.
- National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) which was launched in 2011 was renamed as Bharat Net Project in 2015.
- NOFN was envisaged as an information superhighway through the creation of a robust middle-mile infrastructure for reaching broadband connectivity to Gram Panchayats.
- Bharatnet is a highly scalable network infrastructure accessible on a non-discriminatory basis, to provide on demand, affordable broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for all households and on demand capacity to all institutions, to realise the vision of Digital India, in partnership with States and the private sector and to facilitate the delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking, Internet and other services to rural India.
- The entire project is being funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), which was set up for improving telecom services in rural and remote areas of the country.
National Monetisation Pipeline:
- NMP is envisaged to serve as a medium-term roadmap for identifying potential monetisation- ready projects, across various infrastructure sectors.
- The strategic objective of the programme is to unlock the value of investments in brownfield public sector assets by tapping institutional and long-term patient capital, which can thereafter be leveraged for further public investments.
- The pipeline has been developed by NITI Aayog, in consultation with infrastructure line ministries, based on the mandate for ‘Asset Monetisation’ under Union Budget 2021-22.
- NMP estimates aggregate monetisation potential of Rs 6.0 lakh crores through core assets of the Central Government, over a four-year period, from FY 2022 to FY 2025.
- The NMP is aimed at creating a systematic and transparent mechanism for public authorities to monitor the performance of the initiative and for investors to plan their future activities.