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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1838
ANSWERED ON 29TH JULY, 2026
IMPLEMENTATION OF CELL BROADCAST SYSTEM
1838. SHRI GOVIND MAKTHAPPA KARJOL:
Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:
(a) the details of the indigenous Cell Broadcast System (CBS) launched for nationwide disaster
warning and emergency communication;
(b) the details of the total expenditure incurred for the development, testing and nationwide
implementation of the system, along with the details of funding provided to Centre for Development
of Telematics (C-DOT) and other implementing agencies;
(c) the present status of integration of the system with all telecom service providers and its
implementation in State/UT-wise including Karnataka;
(d) the details of disaster alerts issued through the system since its launch, indicating the number
of alerts, the States covered and the estimated number of mobile users reached; and
(e) the measures taken by the Government to ensure the reliability, multilingual capability,
accessibility for persons with disabilities, data privacy, cybersecurity and periodic testing of the
system?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)
(a) (b) & (c) Indigenous Cell Broadcast System (CBS) developed by C-DOT has been launched on
2nd May 2026 by the Honourable Minister of Communications on a nationwide scale. It has been
implemented across all Telecom Service Providers in all 36 States/UTs (including Karnataka) for
disaster warning and emergency alerts to mobile phones under MoU between C-DOT & NDMA with
outlay of Rs 99.82 Cr.
(d) A total of 132 Cell Broadcast alerts for various disasters have been disseminated by SDMAs
as on 19th July 2026 across multiple states. Details are as given below:
S. No. Name of State / UT Number of CB Alerts
1 Uttar Pradesh 79
2 Madhya Pradesh 10
13 Rajasthan 9
4 Chhattisgarh 10
5 Bihar 7
6 Odisha 5
7 Maharashtra 3
8 Haryana 3
9 Uttarakhand 2
10 Assam 1
11 Andhra Pradesh 1
12 Kerala 1
13 Tripura 1
Total no. of CB Alerts 132
Since Cell Broadcast is a broadcast based technology, the alert is broadcasted towards all
phones latched to the target mobile tower.
(e) Department of Telecommunications has mandated mobile handset manufacturers to support
Cell Broadcast in all the 22 languages as mentioned in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution
with distinctive alert tone and the vibration pattern along with the read out of the alert content
ensuring accessibility of alerts to the persons with disabilities. Cell Broadcast messages do not impact
data privacy.
Cell Broadcast solution applications are periodically tested and scanned for any
vulnerabilities by the Computer Emergency Response Team India (CERT-In) empanelled agency
and has been recognized as a trusted telecom product by National Security Council Secretariat
(NSCS) confirming its security, sovereignty, and suitability for deployment in critical national
infrastructure.
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