**Executive Summary**
This document is an answer to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 574, regarding a survey of commercially unviable rural and remote areas for mobile connectivity, answered on December 3, 2025. The government assesses mobile coverage using inputs from Telecom Service Providers, and uncovered villages are targeted for 4G coverage under the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) scheme. The document includes annexures detailing the surveyed villages and status of towers commissioned and villages covered under the DBN scheme as of October 31, 2025.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Survey and Coverage Assessment:**
* The government assesses mobile coverage in rural and remote areas based on inputs from Telecom Service Providers.
* Villages identified as uncovered are surveyed to validate their mobile coverage status.
* Uncovered villages are then targeted for coverage under Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) funded 4G mobile connectivity schemes.
* **Survey Statistics:**
* 86,511 villages have been surveyed across the country under various DBN schemes.
* **Annexure I:**
* Provides district-wise details of villages surveyed in the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
* The total number of villages surveyed in Madhya Pradesh is 6053.
* The total number of villages surveyed in Maharashtra is 8192.
* The total number of villages surveyed in the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu is 112.
* **Annexure II:**
* Presents state-wise details of the number of towers commissioned and villages covered under DBN schemes.
* A total of 20,681 towers have been commissioned.
* A total of 29,439 villages have been covered.
* All statistics are as of October 31, 2025.
**Impact Analysis**
**Telecom Service Providers**
*Impact:*
They provide inputs regarding mobile coverage in rural and remote areas, which form the basis of the government's assessment.
*Action Required:*
Continue to provide accurate and up-to-date information regarding mobile coverage.
**Residents of Commercially Unviable Rural and Remote Areas**
*Impact:*
They will potentially gain improved mobile connectivity through the DBN scheme.
*Action Required:*
None specified.
**Government (Ministry of Communications/Department of Telecommunications)**
*Impact:*
Responsible for the planning, execution, and monitoring of the survey and the DBN scheme.
*Action Required:*
Continue implementing the DBN scheme and monitoring the progress of mobile connectivity improvements in rural areas.
Key Entities Referenced
Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN): Scheme funding 4G mobile connectivity in rural and remote areas of India.
Ministry of Communications: The ministry responsible for telecom services and mobile connectivity, which is the subject of this document.
Rural areas: Areas which are surveyed to assess mobile coverage.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 574
ANSWERED ON 3RD DECEMBER, 2025
SURVEY OF COMMERCIALLY UNVIABLE RURAL AND REMOTE AREAS FOR
MOBILE CONNECTIVITY
†574. SHRI GYANESHWAR PATIL:
SMT. DELKAR KALABEN MOHANBHAI:
SHRI BHUMARE SANDIPANRAO ASARAM:
DR. SHIVAJI BANDAPPA KALGE:
SHRI NILESH DNYANDEV LANKE:
Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government conducted any survey of commercially unviable rural and remote
areas of the country;
(b) if so, the district-wise details of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, States of
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh;
(c) whether the Government has taken any initiative to provide telecom/mobile services across
the commercially unviable rural and remote areas of the country and if so, the State-wise details
thereof;
(d) whether the Government has taken any steps to improve mobile connectivity across the rural
and remote areas particularly for education and healthcare services; and
(e) if so, the State-wise details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)
(a) to (e) The Government, based on inputs from Telecom Service Providers, assesses mobile
coverage in rural and remote areas. Villages found uncovered are surveyed to validate their mobile
coverage status. Thereafter, uncovered villages are taken up for coverage under the Digital Bharat
Nidhi (DBN) funded 4G mobile connectivity schemes.
Under various Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) schemes, 86,511 villages have been surveyed
across the country. The district-wise details of villages surveyed in States of Maharashtra and
Madhya Pradesh and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli is at Annexure-I.
State wise details of number of towers commissioned and villages covered under DBN
scheme as on 31.10.2025 is at Annexure-II.
1Annexure-I
Annexure referred to in reply of part (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 574 to be
answered on 3rd December, 2025 raised by Hon’ble Member of Parliament regarding “Survey
of Commercially Unviable Rural and Remote Areas for Mobile Connectivity”
District wise details of villages surveyed in State of Madhya Pradesh under DBN schemes:
District Name Village Surveyed
Agar Malwa 12
Alirajpur 69
Anuppur 81
Ashoknagar 99
Balaghat 402
Barwani 535
Betul 422
Bhind 23
Bhopal 43
Burhanpur 66
Chhatarpur 149
Chhindwara 384
Damoh 82
Datia 8
Dewas 95
Dhar 200
Dindori 326
Guna 114
Gwalior 65
Harda 106
Hoshangabad 152
Indore 17
Jabalpur 22
Jhabua 10
Katni 20
Khandwa 102
Khargone 288
Mandla 283
Mandsaur 60
Morena 80
Narsinghpur 48
Neemuch 74
Niwari 1
Pandhurna 4
Panna 133
Raisen 110
Rajgarh 48
Ratlam 34
Rewa 37
Sagar 101
Satna 99
Sehore 105
Seoni 102
Shahdol 64
2Shajapur 15
Sheopur 147
Shivpuri 182
Sidhi 146
Singrauli 92
Tikamgarh 21
Umaria 75
Ujjain 5
Vidisha 95
Grand Total 6053
District wise details of villages surveyed in State of Maharashtra under DBN schemes:
District Name Villages Surveyed
Ahmednagar 311
Akola 96
Amravati 253
Aurangabad 61
Beed 203
Bhandara 63
Buldhana 148
Chandrapur 284
Dhule 142
Gadchiroli 1412
Gondia 124
Hingoli 75
Jalgaon 312
Jalna 82
Kolhapur 165
Latur 255
Nagpur 344
Nanded 238
Nandurbar 309
Nashik 289
Osmanabad 37
Palghar 182
Parbhani 195
Pune 219
Raigad 525
Ratnagiri 556
Sangli 24
Satara 295
Sindhudurg 299
Solapur 43
Thane 275
Wardha 130
3Washim 56
Yavatmal 190
Grand Total 8192
District wise details of villages surveyed in the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman
& Diu under DBN schemes:
District Name Villages Surveyed
Dadra And Nagar Haveli 100
Daman 12
Grand Total 112
4Annexure-II
Annexure referred to in reply of part (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 574 to be
answered on 3rd December, 2025 raised by Hon’ble Member of Parliament regarding “Survey
of Commercially Unviable Rural and Remote Areas for Mobile Connectivity”
State wise details of number towers commissioned and villages covered under DBN schemes:
S. No. State Tower Commissioned Village covered
1 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 208 267
2 Andhra Pradesh 1967 3830
3 Arunachal Pradesh 719 1459
4 Assam 502 732
5 Bihar 283 369
6 Chhattisgarh 1598 1774
Dadra &Nagar Haveli and Daman
7 16 25
& Diu
8 Goa 31 38
9 Gujarat 668 854
10 Haryana 5 5
11 Himachal Pradesh 573 917
12 Jammu and Kashmir 534 602
13 Jharkhand 1411 2046
14 Karnataka 530 668
15 Kerala 326 515
16 Ladakh 230 307
17 Lakshadweep 0 0
18 Madhya Pradesh 1406 1884
19 Maharashtra 2622 3117
20 Manipur 41 74
21 Meghalaya 613 821
22 Mizoram 18 19
23 Nagaland 203 265
24 Odisha 3355 4915
25 Punjab 41 44
26 Rajasthan 1338 1611
27 Sikkim 3 4
28 Tamil Nadu 255 297
29 Telangana 321 389
30 Tripura 98 153
31 Uttar Pradesh 228 295
32 Uttarakhand 494 1098
33 West Bengal 44 45
Total 20681 29439
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