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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3122
TO BE ANSWERED ON 11TH MARCH, 2026
BLACK SPOTS IN MOBILE AND TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS
†3122. DR. ANAND KUMAR:
Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is aware that there are black spots in mobile and telecommunication
networks in many areas of the country, not only in rural areas but also in urban areas, due to which
citizens face call drops, internet disruptions and difficulties in emergency communication;
(b) if so, the number of mobile/telecom black spots identified in rural and urban areas in the
country and the State/city-wise details thereof;
(c) whether the Government is implementing any special scheme to improve connectivity in
these black spot areas through installation of mobile towers, increasing network density, 4G/5G
expansion or alternative technologies; and
(d) the current progress of the said measures and the time by which it is prescribed to ensure
uninterrupted telecom services?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)
(a) & (b) Presently, field units of Department of Telecommunications have reported that
approx. 8,985 villages in the country are uncovered (blackspots) with mobile services. Telecom
Service Providers identify the uncovered areas in urban and rural through regular drive tests and
provide coverage with optimization of existing network and by installing new Base Transceiver
Stations (BTSs) as per techno-commercial feasibility. State/UT-wise list of uncovered villages is
attached as Annexure-I.
(c) & (d) For providing high bandwidth capacity internet/broadband connectivity and mobile
services to uncovered remote & rural villages and islands in the country, following projects have
been taken up with funding from Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN):
i. BharatNet project: It is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband
connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) and villages in the country. As of Jan-2026;
2,14,921 GPs have been made service ready under BharatNet project in the country. Further,
Amended BharatNet Program (ABP), approved by the Government on 04.08.2023, is under
implementation for up-gradation of existing network of BharatNet Phase-I and Phase-II,
creation of network in balance GPs and connectivity to remaining non-GP villages on demand
basis from their respective GPs.
ii. 4G Saturation: Under Government funded 4G Saturation Project and other Mobile projects,
till Jan-2026, 23,994 mobile towers have been commissioned in the country.
1iii. Submarine optical fibre cable: Commissioning of Submarine optical fibre cable between
Chennai and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (2312 Km) and between Mainland (Kochi) and
Lakshadweep Islands (1869 km). Creation of 225Km OFC network in Lakshadweep Islands
for provision of FTTH & other services. These optical fibre cable projects have facilitated
faster roll out of fixed line broadband/internet services, mobile services (4G/5G) and other
high-speed data services in the Islands.
2Annexure-I
State/UT-wise list of uncovered villages as on 31.01.2026
S.N. Name of State / UT No. of uncovered villages
1 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 127
2 Andhra Pradesh 394
3 Arunachal Pradesh 1,185
4 Assam 163
5 Bihar 39
6 Chandigarh 0
7 Chhattisgarh 769
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and
8 0
Daman & Diu
9 Goa 38
10 Gujarat 213
11 Haryana 1
12 Himachal Pradesh 510
13 Jammu and Kashmir 248
14 Jharkhand 324
15 Karnataka 470
16 Kerala 0
17 Ladakh 10
18 Lakshadweep 0
19 Madhya Pradesh 960
20 Maharashtra 872
21 Manipur 191
22 Meghalaya 159
23 Mizoram 54
24 Nagaland 131
25 NCT of Delhi 0
26 Odisha 1,237
27 Puducherry 0
28 Punjab 2
29 Rajasthan 531
30 Sikkim 6
31 Tamil Nadu 3
32 Telangana 228
33 Tripura 7
34 Uttar Pradesh 36
35 Uttarakhand 68
36 West Bengal 9
Total 8,985
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