Govt to install 25,000 telecom towers in next 500 days: Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

The government of India is planning to install 25000 telecom towers in the next 500 days, Minister for Communication Ashwini Vaishnaw said. He also went on to add that Rs 36,000 crore has been sanctioned by the government for the installation of new towers.

Minister of Communication Ashwini Vaishnaw was addressing the conference of states IT ministers. This was the first meeting Vaishnav had after the 5G rollout by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Almost all states IT ministers raised concern about the connectivity in their particular state, accepting connectivity as a challenge. Ashwini Vaishnaw said, "As far as connectivity is concerned, states have to do heavy lifting in improving connectivity in the states."

Minister showed belief that with the revival of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) a large part of the connectivity gap will go away. "We have Rs 1.64 lakh crore for the revival of BSNL that would be enough to take care of their capital investment requirement, technology upgradation requirement."

While giving his concluding remarks, Minister praised all the state governments for joining the PM Gati shakti master plan in a matter of 8 months and he said that the results of working together have been phenomenal.

The meeting of all state ministers with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was happening on the sidelines of the sixth Indian Mobile Congress in Delhi.