The central government has entered into a tripartite agreement with the governments of 16 states and union territories (UT) and Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) to expedite the process of providing broadband connectivity to gram panchayats across the country, say news reports.

The state governments of Uttrakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerela, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura signed the MoU. UTs Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Puducherry also signed the agreement.

As part of the MoU, the project providing broadband connectivity to gram panchayats will cost the central government Rs 200 billion. The MoU has been signed for about 1,40,000 gram panchayats.

The state governments will have to provide approvals for laying the optic fibre network and facilitate other measures for expeditious rollout of the network.

The broadband project will be executed by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, RailTel and Power Grid.