A group of telecoms equipment suppliers in India called for the government to investigate why an INR16.5 billion ($237 million) programme awarded to Bharti Airtel to deploy towers in the northeast has progressed so slowly, The Economic Times reported.

The operator, the second largest in the country, and Bharti Hexacom were contracted at the end of 2017 to deploy more than 2,000 towers in six states in the northeast region. But it acknowledged just 50 sites were built by end-2018, noting it opted to add 4G capability in many of the locations, an add-on it implemented at its own cost.

NK Goyal, chairman of the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association, told the newspaper the government should take “suitable action” to accelerate the deployment of towers in the region, which has poor connectivity due to limited infrastructure.

Bharti Hexacom is a unit of Bharti Airtel.