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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 470
TO BE ANSWERED ON 25TH MARCH, 2026
STATUS OF WIRED BROADBAND AND MOBILE INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN
RURAL INDIA
*470. SHRI GURMEET SINGH MEET HAYER:
Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:
(a) the total number of villages in the country and out of these, the number of villages connected
with wired broadband connectivity, State/UT-wise;
(b) the number of villages connected with mobile internet along with technology-wise break-up
of 3G, 4G and 5G connectivity, State/UT-wise;
(c) the number of villages still without wired broadband and/or mobile internet connectivity
along with the reasons therefor, State/UT-wise; and
(d) the targets and timelines fixed for achieving universal village connectivity under the
Government initiatives?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN
REGION
(SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA)
(a) to (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
1STATEMENT IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (d) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED
QUESTION NO. 470 FOR 25TH MARCH, 2026 REGARDING “STATUS OF WIRED
BROADBAND AND MOBILE INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN RURAL INDIA.”
(a) As per data maintained by the Registrar General of India, there are 6,44,131 villages in the
country. Under the Government-funded BharatNet project, 2,17,805 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the
country have been made service-ready for broadband connectivity. Details for various States and
Union Territories (UTs) are at Annex I.
(b) to (d) The number of villages connected with mobile internet, along with the breakup in
terms of 3G, 4G and 5G technology, State/UT-wise, as on 28.2.2026, is at Annex II. Details of
major Government-funded initiatives for providing high bandwidth capacity internet/broadband
connectivity and mobile services to remote and rural villages in the country that currently lack
coverage are as follows:
(i) BharatNet programme has been approved for provision for broadband connectivity in a
phased manner to all Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country. As of February 2026,
2,17,805 GPs have been made service-ready under this programme. Further, the
Government has approved the Amended BharatNet Programme (ABP) under a design,
built, operate and maintain model to upgrade the existing network created under Phases
I and II of BharatNet and to create incremental network for connectivity to the remaining
GPs, and to the remaining non-GP villages on an on-demand basis with minimum
demand for five home fibre internet connections, operation and on maintenance for 10
years and provision of 1.5 crore home fibre internet connections.
(ii) Under the Government-funded 4G Saturation Project and other mobile connectivity
projects, till February 2026, 24,263 mobile towers have been commissioned in the
country.
2Annex I
Annex referred to in the reply to part (a) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *470, to be
answered on 25th March, 2026
State/UT-wise service-ready Gram Panchayats under BharatNet programme
S. no. State Total
1 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 72
2 Andhra Pradesh 12,955
3 Arunachal Pradesh 1,124
4 Assam 1,507
5 Bihar 8,340
6 Chandigarh 12
7 Chhattisgarh 9,695
8 Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 38
9 Goa 0
10 Gujarat 14,320
11 Haryana 6,082
12 Himachal Pradesh 790
13 Jammu and Kashmir 1,130
14 Jharkhand 4,390
15 Karnataka 6,084
16 Kerala 978
17 Ladakh 193
18 Lakshadweep 9
19 Madhya Pradesh 18,907
20 Maharashtra 24,575
21 Manipur 1,475
22 Meghalaya 698
23 Mizoram 540
24 Nagaland 236
25 Odisha 6,785
26 Puducherry 98
27 Punjab 12,673
28 Rajasthan 8,776
29 Sikkim 35
30 Tamil Nadu 10,886
31 Telangana 10,833
32 Tripura 740
33 Uttar Pradesh 47,553
34 Uttarakhand 2,599
35 West Bengal 2,677
Total 2,17,805
3Annex II
Annexure referred to in the reply to part (b) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *470, to be
answered on 25th March 2026
State/UT-wise mobile coverage status, as on 28.2.2026
Number Number Number Numbe
of of of r of
S. Mobile Mobile villages villages villages villages
Total
no State/UT covered village uncovere having having having under
villages
. s d villages 2G 3G 4G 5G
coverag coverag coverag brought
e e e services
1 Andaman 559 432 127 359 85 335 35
and Nicobar
Islands
2 Andhra 17,328 16,946 382 14,722 215 16,708 8,530
Pradesh
3 Arunachal 5,993 4,817 1,176 4,523 571 4,367 600
Pradesh
4 Assam 26,429 26,266 163 25,152 6,699 26,182 3,718
5 Bihar 44,888 44,845 43 44,703 1,440 44,832 42,902
6 Chandigarh - - - - - - 0
7 Chhattisgarh 20,072 19,320 752 16,351 780 19,150 9,127
8 Dadra and 95 95 - 95 - 95 94
Nagar Haveli
and Daman
and Diu
9 Delhi 55 55 - 55 53 55 55
10 Goa 392 355 37 327 132 345 309
11 Gujarat 18,425 18,213 212 16,793 1,774 18,206 15,707
12 Haryana 6,640 6,639 1 6,632 912 6,638 6,426
13 Himachal 20,852 20,348 504 19,649 3,103 20,139 11,261
Pradesh
14 Jammu and 6,474 6,226 248 6,030 530 6,208 3,704
Kashmir
15 Jharkhand 32,370 32,068 302 30,789 794 32,012 19,241
16 Karnataka 29,818 29,360 458 28,604 991 29,239 19,633
17 Kerala 1,438 1,438 - 1,438 778 1,438 1,357
18 Ladakh 243 233 10 179 78 229 22
19 Lakshadwee 27 27 - 25 25 25 5
p
20 Madhya 55,058 54,128 930 46,956 321 54,043 28,030
Pradesh
21 Maharashtra 43,931 43,063 868 38,828 10,300 42,785 30,662
22 Manipur 2,612 2,423 189 2,210 378 2,414 718
23 Meghalaya 7,100 6,959 141 5,808 254 6,954 341
24 Mizoram 867 815 52 674 48 813 74
25 Nagaland 1,535 1,428 107 1,088 122 1,411 280
26 Odisha 51,176 49,999 1,177 43,290 1,343 49,491 2,998
27 Puducherry 96 96 - 96 85 96 96
428 Punjab 12,534 12,532 2 12,529 3,787 12,494 11,666
29 Rajasthan 46,077 45,555 522 44,390 3,615 45,393 23,263
30 Sikkim 461 455 6 443 16 443 349
31 Tamil Nadu 16,488 16,485 3 16,176 3,954 16,452 9,377
32 Telangana 10,203 9,976 227 9,790 1,899 9,864 1,945
33 Tripura 937 930 7 870 97 929 353
34 Uttar Pradesh 1,05,53 1,05,495 36 105,364 19,341 105,343 78,542
1
35 Uttarakhand 16,456 16,399 57 16,145 1,612 16,305 4,729
36 West Bengal 40,971 40,962 9 40,798 2,505 40,959 31,007
Total 6,44,13 6,35,383 8,748 6,01,881 68,637 6,32,392 3,67,156
1
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