Photo: 1Rohan
Goa BroadBand Network has become outdated: Khaunte
Panaji: Stating that the Goa BroadBand Network (GBBN) is now well past its life cycle with the related equipments including the fibre having become outdated, Minister for Information Technology Rohan Khaunte on Saturday said that the ‘Har Ghar Fibre’ project of the government as recently announced by the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in the Budget for the year 2023-24, will complement the current 5G technology.
The ‘Har Ghar Fibre’ will provide high-speed internet connectivity to rural households in Goa, after the fibre network is laid across the state at a cost of `725 crore with assistance from the central government.
“The GBBN went till the last village panchayat in the state, while the ‘Har Ghar Fibre’ will travel till the last house in the state,” Khaunte said, pointing out that the GBBN was laid on the build own operate (BOO) model, and after the 10-year agreement with the concerned agency, the consultant in its report said that the network was outdated.
Speaking further, the IT Minister said that the government is still paying the agency without owning any equipment. “The government will own the fibre under the ‘Har Ghar Fibre’ project as also have the revenue model,” he noted.
United Telecoms Limited (UTL) is the private agency that had implemented the GBBN project.
Khaunte, who also holds the Tourism portfolio, was addressing a press conference at the city Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters to analyse the annual financial statement 2023-24, and said that it is a “Swayampurna Budget”.
Last financial year, the Budget had made a financial provision of `247.16 crore for the tourism sector, while for the current fiscal year it is `262.85 crore.
Interacting with mediapersons, the Tourism Minister said that new thought needs to be adopted for the tourism sector and we need to go beyond beaches.
“The government is not in the business of doing business and is a facilitator,” he added, pointing out, “Theme park, entertainment park and so on are being proposed in the state through PPP model, with government providing its land to the investors.”
“We will also receive central funds amounting to `200 crore for two circuits of Goa, through the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 Scheme of the Centre,” he informed, maintaining that for the decennial exposition of the sacred relics of St. Francis Xavier, in 2024, the central government has sanctioned `40.5 crore under its ‘Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive’ (PRASAD) Scheme.
“Furthermore, under the Mini Prasad Scheme, `3 crore to `4 crore would be spent on 5 temples,” he mentioned, adding that annual licence fees and upfront fees related to tourism would also provide continuous revenue to the tourism sector.
Maintaining that this year, the provision for tourism sector in the budget “could have been better,” Khaunte said that his department would be making use of investors as well as central finances, to fund the tourism projects.
Replying to a question, Khaunte said that the Goa Tourism Development Corporation will be a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for all tourism-related infrastructural projects, while the newly-formed Tourism Board is a tourism regulatory body and along with its four sub-committees will be involved in recommendations, policy making and overseeing the Tourism Master Plan.