Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has directed collectors of 24 districts to expedite the issuance of No Objection Certificates (NOCs) and facilitate the availability of government land for installation of 707 new 4G mobile towers under the Centre-funded 4G Saturation Project.
In a communication issued on June 17, Additional Chief Secretary of the Electronics and Information Technology Department Vishal Kumar Dev asked district collectors to provide advance possession of around 2,000 square feet of government land at each identified site in favour of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to enable commencement of tower installation works.
The directive follows a letter from the Union Communications Minister regarding the newly identified sites under the extended 4G Saturation Project funded by the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India.
The project aims to improve digital connectivity in underserved and remote areas of the state. The identified locations are spread across districts including Angul, Balangir, Balasore, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Boudh, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jajpur, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Nayagarh, Puri, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sundargarh.
The ACS noted that proactive action by some districts had already resulted in issuance of NOCs for 294 sites, helping accelerate implementation of the project in those areas.
Stressing the importance of timely completion, Dev urged collectors to instruct field-level officials to make the required land available and facilitate early execution of tower construction works. The matter has been marked as “Most Urgent”.
The 4G Saturation Project is intended to bridge connectivity gaps in rural and difficult-to-access regions by extending mobile network coverage to areas that currently remain underserved.
