The Chhattisgarh government waived the Tata company's fine

-Broadband system was delayed in rural areas

-The committee appointed by the chairman of the chief secretary of state was fined

New Delhi, Thursday, October 29, 2020

In Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Bhupendra Badal's Congress government waived a fine of Rs 200 crore imposed on the Tata company. The project to fit broadband system in rural areas of Chhattisgarh was given to Tata Company which was not completed on time.

The state government had constituted an inquiry committee headed by the chief secretary of state. The probe committee had imposed a fine of Rs 200 crore on Tata. The project was worth Rs 3,057 crore. The state government had quashed the decision taken by two chartered officers attached to the nodal agency of the broadband project.

As per the agreement reached between the Tata company and the state government, the Tata company did not complete the project on time but twice. The probe committee had imposed a fine of Rs 200 crore on Tata, which was in line with the company's agreement with the state government.

When the uniform of BharatNet Chhattisgarh project was handed over to Tata company in July 2018, it was decided that the company would complete the project within a year. The company was to lay optical fiber over a distance of 32,466 km to connect 85 blocks and 5,987 gram panchayats in 25 districts of the state.

The project was part of a nationwide Bharatnet scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Its objective was to connect 2.5 lakh villages. As of September 25, 2020, Tata had connected only 1394 gram panchayats, which was only 24 per cent of the total project work.