Centre to give automatic ‘Right of Way’ permissions for BharatNet project

Government entities, such as public works departments, will now automatically give permissions to lay down optical fibre in rural areas under the BharatNet Project after the central government notified the initiative as a “special project” in “public interest” under the Telecommunications Rules, 2024, that came into effect on January 1. “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-rule of rule 12 of the Telecommunications Rules, 2024, the Central Government, in public interest, hereby notifies the “BharatNet”, as a special project for the establishment of telecommunication network,” the gazette notification issued on January 1 stated. Under Rule 12 of the RoW Rules, the central government can notify projects as “special projects” in “public interest” for which all permissions required for establishing the overground or underground network will be “deemed to have been granted” and the digital portal will automatically generate a “deemed permission” for such applications. According to the official USOF website, as on December 2, 2024, 2,14,289 gram panchayats had been connected through the BharatNet project against the planned network of 2,22,343 gram panchayats in the first two phases.