Minister of Communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad in a written reply to Lok Sabha said Cabinet approved a proposal to install mobile towers at 2,199 locations identified by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the 10 states.
The state identified are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telengana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, which are affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), he added.
"BSNL has been nominated to execute the work. The revised project cost of Rs 3,567.58 crore has been recommended for approval by the Telecom Commission in its meeting on June 13, 2014," Prasad said.
"BSNL is expanding its network through installation of 8,784 base transceivers stations (BTSs) for 2G and 3G services in rural parts as part of its Phase-VII expansion plan at a cost of Rs 1,704 crore," the Minister said.
These plans are being implemented by the government with financial support from the Universal Service obligation Fund (USOF), he said.
During June 2007 to November 2013, 7,317 mobile towers have been installed with the financial support of USOF under the Share Mobile infrastructure.
BBNL, which is a special purpose vehicle (SPV), has three partners -- BSNL, Railtel and Power grid Corporation of India (PGCIL).
"The target for the completion of the project is March 2017 for connecting over 2.3 lakh gram panchayats with broadband services. Of which 50,000 gram pachayats will be connected by March 2015, one lakh by March 2016 and the balance by March 2017," Prasad said.