Parliament Question: Access to Wi-Fi in rural areas

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2387 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12TH MARCH, 2026 ACCESS TO WI-FI IN RURAL AREAS 2387 SHRI MASTHAN RAO YADAV BEEDHA: Will the Minister of Communications be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has undertaken any measures to improve access to Wi-Fi and public internet services in rural areas across India and if so, the details thereof, including the current coverage and achievements; (b) the details regarding implementation status of BharatNet and other rural broadband initiatives, including the number of Gram Panchayats connected with fibre and Wi-Fi services, State- wise; and (c) the details regarding the funds allocated, released and utilised for rural Wi-Fi and broadband connectivity during the last five years, year-wise and State-wise? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR) (a) & (b) BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (GPs). The total number of GPs undertaken under BharatNet Phase-I and Phase-II are 2,22,341, out of which 2,14,921 GPs are Service Ready. The state-wise implementation status of BharatNet project is available on Digital Bharat Nidhi website (https://usof.gov.in/en/parliament-questions). Wi-Fi service is supported by equipment installed at many GPs. (c) Rs. 22,001 crore has been disbursed under BharatNet Project during last five financial years (2020-21 to 2024-25). The year-wise and State-wise details of fund disbursed under BharatNet project during the last five years, is available on Digital Bharat Nidhi website (https://usof.gov.in/en/parliament-questions). ***** 1