Odisha to submit plan on optic fibre network soon

The state government would soon submit a detailed proposal to the Union government on the National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN).

The project, part of the Union government's Digital India Programme, with an outlay of Rs 72,000 crore, is aimed at offering broadband connectivity to 250,000 villages across the country.

"The NOFN project was discussed threadbare with the Union IT minister. In the next 15 days, we are going to submit a detailed proposal to the Centre on the state's requirement under NOFN", said Pranab Prakash Das, Odisha's IT minister. Das attended the meeting on NOFN convened last Friday by Union communications and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.The meeting aimed at working out a model for faster execution of NOFN by involving state governments.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken a review meeting on NOFN earlier this month. The project, expected to be completed by December next year, is an important part of the government's Digital India programme. A report by a government set-up panel recommended greater autonomy, flexibility and roping in state governments and private sector for speedy implementation of the project. It also recommended renaming the project as 'Bharat-Net'.

In the first phase, the project is slated to connect 50,000 gram panchayats in Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, the Northeast and Maharashtra. This is expected to be over by the end this year.