Cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar has convened a secretary-level meeting to consider a proposal to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for rolling out a national optic fibre network. However, the department of telecommunications (DoT) is believed to be averse to the proposal made by Sam Pitroda, advisor to Prime Minister to take the Rs 20,000-crore project out of its ambit. The October 28 meeting will be attended by secretaries of DoT, department of information technology and panchayati raj.
Last year, the government had floated the idea to network the country with optic fibre and last-mile wireless connectivity to boost broadband penetration, which stands at a paltry 10 million.
If Pitroda’s proposal is accepted, the SPV, a corporate entity would undertake the construction of the OFC network. Apart from BSNL, the SPV would also have state utilities like Railways, GAIL and PowerGrid as members. According to the original plan, BSNL would have laid the OFC network funded through the universal service obligation fund. However, the project has been hit with several delays.