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Chhattisgarh aims to make 1,056 BSNL mobile towers operational by December 2026 and has submitted a proposal to the Centre for another 2,300 towers. The state has also received approval for a Rs 3,928 crore BharatNet Phase III project to strengthen digital connectivity across the state, Electronics and Information Technology Department Secretary Ankit Anand said on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference in Raipur, Anand said the state has expedited land approvals for mobile towers by empowering collector-level committees to grant no-objection certificates (NOCs), significantly reducing delays. "So, this 1056 work that we have done with BSNL... We are trying to make it all on-air by December 26," Anand said. He added, "I am happy to report that out of 2398... there are only 3 cases which are forest clearance cases in which we have not been able to give land. Rest all are actually ongoing. Hopefully by December 26, we will be able to complete 1056 cases, which will be a big achievement." Explaining the change in the approval process, Anand said the biggest bottleneck had been delays in obtaining land NOCs from multiple departments. "The collector level committee has been given the right to give NOC of any land other than forest land... Otherwise, it took 8 months to give NOC. As a single tower cannot be followed in every department, this thing is now over," he said. The state is also preparing for the next phase of telecom expansion and has sought approval from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for another 2,300 mobile towers. "Our second attempt is to sanction the towers as much as possible... the proposal of 2300 towers has been presented to the Department of Telecommunications. Then in the next phase that tower will also be installed. Hopefully, the coverage... will have a huge impact," Anand said. On broadband connectivity, Anand said the Centre has sanctioned Rs 3,928 crore for BharatNet Phase III in Chhattisgarh. (ANI)
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