Parliament Question: Fibre-to-Home Connections in Uttar Pradesh

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2986 ANSWERED ON 05TH AUGUST, 2026 FIBRE-TO-HOME CONNECTIONS IN UTTAR PRADESH †2986. MS IQRA CHOUDHARY: Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state: (a) the number of Gram Panchayats targeted to be provided with functional Fibre-to-the-Home connections in Uttar Pradesh along with the number of Gram Panchayats actually with provided the said connections and the number of villages service ready at present particularly in Kairana Lok Sabha Constituency; (b) whether internet services remain disrupted for months in rural areas due to lack of a local technical team and if so, the details thereof particularly Kairana Lok Sabha Constituency; (c) the details of the percentage actual activation rate of Wi-Fi hotspots in remote villages of Uttar Pradesh as compared to the target particularly in Kairana Lok Sabha Constituency; and (d) whether the Government proposes to impose fines on project implementing agencies which have repeatedly missed last mile connectivity targets including Kairana Lok Sabha Constituency and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR) (a) to (d) The Government of India approved the Amended BharatNet Programme (ABP) on 04.08.2023 for upgradation/ creation the network in all 2.65 lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) across the country using ring topology, including 59,290 GPs in Uttar Pradesh. As of 30.06.2026, working FTTH connections using BharatNet are present in 10,941 GPs in Uttar Pradesh, including 42 GPs of Kairana Lok Sabha Constituency. Under the Amended BharatNet Programme, agreements signed with the Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) include provisions of service level assurance (SLA) based operation & maintenance of the BharatNet network for 10 years. The agreements include penalty provisions for delay in provisioning of last mile connectivity from GP to non-GP villages and breach of SLA (including disruption of connectivity). Under the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) framework, service provision is entirely market-driven, relying on local entrepreneurial initiative based on techno- commercial viability in the local area. Government’s role is limited to policy enablement. For provisioning of public Wi-Fi hotspots under PM-WANI framework, no targets are fixed. As of 30.06.2026, a total of 8,160 public Wi-Fi hotspots under PM-WANI scheme are working in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, including Kairana Lok Sabha Constituency. ***** 1