Delhi:The Union Cabinet chaired by  Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, on Wednesday 30th June approved the revised implementation strategy of Bharat Net through Public-Private Partnership mode in 16 states of the country out of which Assam is main and other states from the northeast.

Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal are all States from the northeast which will be covered under this revised strategy of Bharat Net .There are also other states of the country Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal. An estimated 3.61 lakh villages including GPs will be covered.

The Cabinet also accorded in principle approval for extending BharatNet to cover all inhabited villages in the remaining states and UTs. Department of Telecommunication will separately workout the modalities for these (remaining) States/UTs.

The PPP model will leverage private sector efficiency for operation, maintenance, utilization, and revenue generation and is expected to result in a faster rollout of BharatNet.

The PPP model is also expected to bring an equity investment and raise resources towards capital expenditure and for operation and maintenance of the network. It is also expected to provide reliable, high-speed broadband services as per pre-defined SLA (services level agreement ). The extension of BharatNet to villages will enable better access to e-services offered by various agencies of the Central and State governments. It will also enable online education, telemedicine, skill development, e-commerce, and other Broadband.