'GatiShakti Sanchar' Portal For Centralised Right Of Way Approvals Launched; To Enable Timely Rollout Of 5G Network

In a bid to facilitate universal and equitable access to broadband services across India, especially in the rural areas, the Central government on Saturday (14 May) launched the “GatiShakti Sanchar” portal for centralised Right of Way (RoW) approvals.

The portal, developed by MP State Electronics Development Corporation on behalf of Department of Telecommunication (DoT), was launched by Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw at an even in New Delhi in the presence of various state chief secretaries and IT secretaries along with the top officials of various telecom service providers (TSPs).

The portal will enable applicants form various TSPs as well as Infrastructure providers (IPs) to apply at a common single portal for Right of Way permissions to lay down Optical Fibre cable and for erecting mobile towers to state and union territory governments and local bodies, a Ministry of Communications release said on Saturday.

During the launch, Vaishnaw said, “The portal shall act as an enabler to the objective of “Ease of doing business” for telecommunications infrastructure works in accordance with the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister. The timely disposal of RoW applications of various Service and Infrastructure providers shall enable speedy infrastructure creation which would be an enabler for timely rollout of 5G network also".

He appreciated the role and cooperation of the states and UTs with the Central Government in operationalization of the integrated centralised Gati Shakti Sanchar portal.

The portal, the ministry said, has been developed keeping in view the vision areas of the National Broadband Mission at the core, which are, providing broadband infrastructure as a core utility to every citizen, Governance and services on demand and in particular, digital empowerment of the citizens of our country.

The DoT had set up the National Broadband Mission (NBM) in December 2019 to facilitate universal and equitable access to broadband services across the country, especially in rural and remote areas.

"To fulfil this vision, it is imperative that a backbone of infrastructure is created by facilitating smooth and efficient deployment of Digital Communications Infrastructure across the country. To ensure that, DoT, is launching the “GatiShakti Sanchar" portal," the ministry said, adding that this will provide a robust mechanism to achieve the goal of “Broadband for All” as envisaged in the National Digital Communication Policy.

For effective monitoring of RoW applications across the country, the portal even comes fitted with a potent dashboard showing state and district wise pendency status, the ministry added.

The portal will also bring an array of advantages to the government bodies- at both Central and State/UT levels.

According to the ministry, the portal will smoothen the RoW approval process, which will lead to:

• Fast laying of more Optical Fiber Cable and thus will accelerate fiberization