PANJIM: Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai on Wednesday in the Legislative Assembly alleged major irregularities in awarding extension to UTL for Goa Broadband Network (GBBN) work for last four years without any tendering process and paying the company money to the tune of Rs 82 crore during the period.
Raising the matter during Zero Hour, Sardesai alleged that a deal has been struck with UTL by the State government for a period of 10 years in 2009.
He said that since fiber had become outdated it was decided in 2020 to go for new tender and to lay a new fiber. Then came BharatNet 2.0 under which the government received a loan of Rs 50 crore from the Government of India. In the meantime, Bharat net 3.0 came under which the Centre said that it will deploy BSNL and invest money. Now the government has to take decision whether the State will invest, will go for PPP or investment will be done by the Centre. The government has been paying UTL for the last four years for an extension it has to think that there is a need to curb it. He said that since fiber had become outdated it was decided in 2020 to go for new tender and to lay a new fiber. Then came BharatNet 2.0 under which the government received a loan of Rs 50 crore from the Government of India.
Bharat net 3.0 came under which the Centre said that it will deploy BSNL and invest money. The govt has to take decision whether the State will invest, will go for PPP or investment will be done by the Centre.
The government has been paying UTL for the last four years for an extension it has to think that there is a need to curb it, Sardesai warning of approaching the Court in this regard if the government fails to review the decision.
Information Technology (IT) Minister Rohan Khaunte refuted the claims and said that negotiations are on with UTL till alternate connectivity options are in place. He said that the government plans to launch GBBN 2.0 by laying new Optical Fiber Cable under Public Private Partnership Model. (ii) The Tender has been prepared and is under consideration of the Government.
The Minister stated that the Department of Information Technology, Electronics & Communication had submitted a DPR to Department of Telecommunication, Ministry of Communication, Government of India, seeking funds under BharatNet Phase II project. However, the State government has not received any funding under BharatNet project.
