See Full Document Text
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4344
TO BE ANSWERED ON 02ND APRIL, 2026
FUND UTILISATION UNDER BHARATNET PROJECT
4344 SHRI SANJAY SINGH:
Will the Minister of Communications be pleased to state:
(a) the objectives, timelines and phase-wise targets of BharatNet project, including number of
Gram Panchayats and villages connected under Phases I, II and III;
(b) whether the project has missed multiple deadlines in 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2023 and 2025
and if so, the reasons therefor;
(c) the funds allocated, revised, released and actual expenditure incurred under BharatNet project
since inception, year-wise and phase-wise;
(d) the State/UT-wise details of utilisation of funds and the reasons for under-utilisation, if any;
and
(e) the number of villages and Gram Panchayats where fibre has been laid but broadband services
are not operational, along with the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)
(a) BharatNet project has been 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. Further, Government has approved the Amended BharatNet Program (ABP) (i.e
BharatNet Phase-III) on 04.08.2023 under Design, Built, Operate & Maintain (DBOM) model for up-
gradation of existing network of BharatNet Phase-I and II, creation of network in balance GPs,
Operation & Maintenance for 10 years and utilization. In ABP, Optical Fiber Connectivity is to be
provided to approximately 2.64 lakh GPs and approximately 3.8 lakh non-GP villages on demand
basis. The total number of 2,17,805 GPs have been made Service Ready under BharatNet project.
(b) BharatNet is a mega project, widely dispersed across remotest corners of the country, covering
difficult terrains (Hilly/ Rocky) and also difficult to access Left-wing extremism (LWE) affected areas.
The project implementation faced challenges due to various reasons like delay in obtaining Right of
Way permissions from State agencies especially in forest areas, movement restrictions due to Covid-
pandemic, damage of Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) due to development works such as water pipe line
laying, road widening and other construction activities.
(c) & (d) Government has approved BharatNet Project Phase-I and II on 19.07.2017 at the
total cost of ₹ 48,462 crore (inclusive of taxes), and on 04.08.2023, approved Amended BharatNet
Program (ABP) at the cost of ₹ 1,39,579 crore (inclusive of GST). As on 28.02.2026, total of ₹
148,372.50 crore has been disbursed under BharatNet Project since its inception; including ₹40,634.57
crore for Phase-I and II and ₹ 7,737.92 crore for ABP. The year-wise and State/UT-wise details of fund
disbursement is given in Annexure-I and II, respectively.
(e) Out of 2,17,805 Service Ready GPs, 2,12,771 GPs are on Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) to provide
Fiber To The Home (FTTH) connections. Some GPs have become non-operational due to instances of
cut/damage of OFC as recorded from time to time.
2Annexure-I
Annexure to Rajya Sabha Unstarred Parliament Question No. 4344 to be answered on 2nd
April, 2026.
Year-wise details of Funds disbursed under BharatNet Project as on 28.02.2026
Fund disbursed (upto 28.02.2026)
Financial Year
(Amount in ₹ crore)
2012-13 405.00
2013-14 514.00
2014-15 1,351.86
2015-16 2,415.10
2016-17 5,600.00
2017-18 6,000.00
2018-19 4,145.54
2019-20 1,657.74
2020-21 5,919.79
2021-22 7,510.96
2022-23 1,500.00
2023-24 3,075.54
2024-25 3,995.01
2025-26 4,281.96
Total 48,372.50
3Annexure-II
Annexure to Rajya Sabha Unstarred Parliament Question No. 4344 to be answered on 2nd
April, 2026.
State/UT-wise details of fund disbursed under BharatNet as on 28.02.2026
Sl. Total Fund disbursed
Name of States/UT
No. (Amount in ₹ crore)
1 Andaman and Nicobar 33.48
2 Andhra Pradesh 1,779.49
3 Assam 350.29
4 Bihar 2,061.03
5 Chhattisgarh 2,726.74
6 Gujrat (including Dadar Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu) 3,997.84
7 Haryana 805.64
8 Himachal Pradesh 280.30
9 Jammu and Kashmir (including Ladakh) 471.22
10 Jharkhand 1,188.69
11 Karnataka (for ABP Goa and Puducherry included) 2,080.38
12 Kerala 409.68
13 Lakshadweep 0.22
14 Madhya Pradesh (for ABP including DNH & DD) 4,810.17
15 Maharashtra (including Goa) 5,839.05
16 NE-I (Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura) 288.18
17 NE-II (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland) 480.65
18 Odisha 1,430.06
19 Punjab (including Chandigarh) 1,744.34
20 Puducherry 14.40
21 Rajasthan 2,190.03
22 Sikkim 90.11
23 Tamil Nadu 1368.43
24 Telangana 2,207.87
25 Uttar Pradesh 6,638.56
26 Uttarakhand 616.97
27 West Bengal (for ABP including A&N) 1,025.25
28 Centrally disbursed 3,443.45
29 Grand Total 48,372.50
Fund disbursed under ABP for different packages are included in respective States/UT like
amount of Ladakh included in J&K, Amount for Goa and Puducherry included in Karnataka,
Amount for Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu included in Madhya Pradesh and Amount
for A&N included in West Bengal
***
4