Cabinet approves mobile phone towers in 10 extremist-hit states

The union cabinet Wednesday approved provision of mobile phone services at 2,199 locations in 10 states affected by Left-wing extremism.

The states are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, an official statement said here.

The establishment of mobile services would augment public communication facilities in backward regions and also provide a platform for mobile phone services including m-commerce, mobile based information dissemination and easy access to governance and policing, it said.

The project would be executed by the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). BSNL has already installed towers at 363 locations.

The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) would fund the capital expenditure and operative expenditure net of revenue for five years.

The project implementation cost through the open tendering process is approximately Rs.3,568 crore against the revised cost estimate of approximately Rs.3,216 crore.

"A sum of Rs.3,216 crore has been allotted for installing 1,836 new base transmission stations," Telecommunications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters after the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.