Satellite services provider Hughes Communication on Tuesday said it has bagged an order to connect 2,500 locations in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand and North-Eastern states through broadband internet under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP).

"Today, several thousand CSCs have already been deployed across the country. Using satellite technology, Hughes provides connectivity and other services to more than 10,000 CSCs," Hughes Network Systems India President Pranav Roach said in a statement.

The government has plans to set up over 1 lakh common service centres (CSCs) across the country to give access to its citizen services through internet. Till date, over 96,000 centres have been set up. The contract has been awarded by a special purpose vehicle (SPV), CSC e-Governance Services India, on behalf of Department of Information Technology.

The total value for the project for 2.5 lakh locations across the country at the panchayat level is Rs 2,000 crore.  Out of these 2,500 villages are being connected by Hughes Communication, the statement said.

Under the contract, Hughes will supply, install and commission the VSATs terminals in most difficult parts of India where other modes of delivering broadband services are not available. The main objective of this project is to make available broadband access to internet and other digital services available to the users over satellite using latest standards and technologies.

"All VSATs deployed by Hughes will be delivered and installed within 14 weeks," Roach said. The company did not disclose size of this deal in money terms.