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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3216
TO BE ANSWERED ON 11TH MARCH, 2026
INTERNET CONNECTIVITY TO RURAL INDIA
†3216. SHRI RAHUL KASWAN:
Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:
(a) the current status of the Government's plan to connect rural areas of the country with internet;
(b) whether the Government has achieved the targets set in this regard and if so, the details
thereof;
(c) the details of the number of villages in Rajasthan, particularly in Churu LoK Sabha
constituency, connected with internet so far; and
(d) whether any delay has been reported in the completion of the work of the said scheme in
many areas and if so, the reasons therefor?
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. Further,
Government has approved the Amended BharatNet Program (ABP) on 04.08.2023 through which
Optical Fiber Connectivity is to be provided to approximately 2.64 lakh GPs and approximately 3.8
lakh non-GP villages on demand basis.
(c) A total of 8,776 GPs including 349 GPs of Churu Lok Sabha constituency are Service Ready
under BharatNet in Rajasthan.
(d) The Amended BharatNet Program (ABP) is under implementation and work has been
awarded to Project Implementation Agencies (PIAs) for twenty-four States and UTs including
Rajasthan. Right of Way (RoW) approvals, provision of separate electricity connections for ABP
equipment at GPs have been identified as constraints in implementation and the Department of
Telecommunications (DoT) as well as BSNL (as Project Management Agency for ABP) have been
coordinating with concerned authorities for resolution of the same.
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