Government plans to subsidise internet for rural India
June 19, 2008, The Economic Times
After having failed to meet its target of rural broadband connections, the Government of India is planning to subsidise Internet connectivity in rural areas. This subsidy is quite extensive covering 50% of the cost incurred by service providers in installing infrastructure. Running costs of Internet would cost half of the costs in urban areas. The scheme will be implemented in a phased manner and will focus on remote areas and North Eastern states. It would cover schools, health centres, Panchyats and the Common Service Centres. The article further adds that while e-governance was one of the main focus areas of the UPA government, it seems to have faltered in this area with the Department of Information Technology only being able to spend around Rs. 617 crores as opposed to the budgetary allocation of Rs. 719 crores.