GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2797
ANSWERED ON 17TH DECEMBER, 2025
MOBILE & INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE - DARJEELING & KALIMPONG
DISTRICTS
2797. SHRI RAJU BISTA:
Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:
(a) the details of telecom infrastructure works completed or sanctioned since 2019 (towers, fibre
kms,...
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2797 ANSWERED ON 17TH DECEMBER, 2025 MOBILE & INTERNET INFRASTRUCTURE - DARJEELING & KALIMPONG DISTRICTS
2797. SHRI RAJU BISTA:
Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:
(a) the details of telecom infrastructure works completed or sanctioned since 2019 (towers, fibre kms, BharatNet, PM-WANI) in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts;
(b) the number of USOF-funded towers sanctioned/installed in each district since 2019; and
(c) the timeline and plan for achieving full 5G coverage in these districts? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)
(a) Details of telecom towers installed in Darjeeling & Kalimpong districts, is as below: - S.no District As on 30.11.2025 As on 31.03.2019 1 Darjeeling 1152 915 2 Kalimpong 224 93 Under BharatNet project, in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, 92 Gram Panchayats (GPs) & 41 GPs have been planned respectively for providing broadband connectivity and 22GPs have been made service ready in Darjeeling so far.
Under PMWANI scheme (approved in December 2020), as on 30.11.2025, 122 Wi-Fi hotspots are installed in Darjeeling and 01 Wi-Fi hotspot is installed in Kalimpong.
(b) As on 30.11.2025, Digital Bharat Nidhi (Erstwhile USOF) funded mobile Towers made On- Air under 4G Saturation scheme in the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal are as
under:
District Tower Planned Tower on Air DARJEELING 3 - KALIMPONG 13 5 Total 16 5 1(c) The total number of 5G BTSs installed in Darjeeling & Kalimpong districts, as on
30.11.2025 is as below:
S.no District Count of 5G BTSs 1 Darjeeling 699 2 Kalimpong 85 Deployment of 5G BTS by telecom service providers, in any specified geographical location, depends on number of factors including techno-commercial feasibility, penetration of 5G compatible devices and availability of necessary RoW permissions.
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