CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday flagged off work on the BharatNet project's Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) in the state, which is expected to cost Rs 1,627.83 crore.

At a celebration conducted at the secretariat here, Information Technology & Digital Services Minister T Mano Thangaraj, Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu, and IT secretary Neeraj Mittal officially launched the work at Muthalakurichi village in Kanyakumari's southern district.

The Central government has approved the initiative, which seeks to offer a minimum scalable bandwidth of 1 Gbps to all of the state's 12,525 local panchayats. It would offer low-cost digital services to the public, including e-education, telemedicine, and triple-play services.

It would also deliver high-speed internet to government offices, schools, universities, and industrial facilities, as well as bring government services to people's homes. "The plan will ensure more jobs in rural areas and, as a result, enhance the rural economy," according to a statement issued here.

The BharatNet project is being implemented by the Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation Ltd (TANFINET) in four packages: A, B, C, and D, with one system integrator and a Third Party Agency (TPA) chosen for each package.

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