See Full Document Text
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6019
TO BE ANSWERED ON 01ST APRIL, 2026
TELECOM INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS
6019. 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 West Bengal, district and year-wise;
(b) the details and 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 West Bengal?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)
(a) & (b) Mobile towers are installed by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) / Infrastructure
Providers-I (IPs-I) as per the techno-commercial arrangement and conditions of licenses/
registrations granted by Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Total Number of towers
installed in West Bengal as on 28.02.2026 is 53,902 (Annexure-I). Further, under the various
schemes of Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), DoT has planned for installation of 212 towers across
various districts in West Bengal, out of which 118 towers have been already installed (Annexure-
II).
BharatNet project is being implemented by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)
through Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity in Gram
Panchayats/ Villages across the country. As of February 2026, under the BharatNet project, 13,222
km of Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) has been laid in West Bengal. Further, under the framework of the
PM-WANI (Prime Minister’s Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) which was launched on 09.12.2020,
a total number of 4209 (Annexure-III) Wi-Fi Hotspots have been deployed across various districts
in West Bengal till 27.03.2026.
(c) 5G networks have been rolled out in all States/ UTs across the country and presently 5G
services are available in 99.9% of districts in the country. As on 28th February 2026, 5.23 lakh 5G
Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) have been installed in the country. Further, as on 28.02.2026,
34164 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) have been installed (Annexure-IV) and 31007 Number
of Villages has been covered under 5G Services in various district of West Bengal (Annexure-V).
1ANNEXURE-I
District wise towers in West Bengal State as on 28.02.2026
Name of State District Count of Tower
Alipurduar 670
Bankura 1914
Birbhum 1948
Cooch Behar 1289
Dakshin Dinajpur 715
Darjeeling 1164
Hooghly 3330
Howrah 3295
Jalpaiguri 1189
Jhargram 528
West Bengal Kalimpong 223
Kolkata 6385
Malda 1687
Murshidabad 3347
Nadia 2874
North 24 Parganas 7301
Paschim Bardhaman 1719
Paschim Medinipur 2327
Purba Bardhaman 2444
Purba Medinipur 2282
Purulia 1258
South 24 Parganas 4656
Uttar Dinajpur 1357
Total 53902
2ANNEXURE-II
District-wise towers planned and installed in West Bengal
Towers installed
Tower
S. No District Grand
Planned 2020 2024 2025 2026
Total
1 Alipurduar 22 4 4
2 Bankura 10 1 8 1 10
3 Darjeeling 23 3 3
4 Jalpaiguri 16 5 2 1 8
5 Jhargram 12 2 2
6 Kalimpong 31 2 3 5
7 Murshidabad 1 1 1
8 Purulia 53 1 36 9 46
9 South 24 parganas 1
10 Uttar dinajpur 2 2 2
11 W. Medinipur 41 4 33 37
Total 212 1 17 89 11 118
*Note-No tower installed in years 2021, 2022 and 2023
3ANNEXURE-III
District wise Wi-Fi Hotspots under PM-WANI in West Bengal State as on 27.03.2026
S.No Districts No. of Wi-Fi Hotspots
1 Alipurduar 29
2 Bankura 168
3 Birbhum 126
4 Cooch Behar 115
5 Dakshin Dinajpur 63
6 Darjeeling 122
7 Hooghly 207
8 Howrah 313
9 Jalpaiguri 111
10 Jhargram 9
11 Kalimpong 1
12 Kolkata 1109
13 Malda 87
14 Murshidabad 167
15 Nadia 172
16 North 24 Parganas 159
17 Paschim Bardhaman 188
18 Paschim Medinipur 349
19 Purba Bardhaman 273
20 Purba Medinipur 139
21 Purulia 118
22 South 24 Parganas 123
23 Uttar Dinajpur 61
Total 4209
4ANNEXURE-IV
District wise 5G BTS in West Bengal State as on 28.02.2026
Number of 5G BTS
Name of State District
Hooghly 2348
Howrah 2533
Kolkata 4060
Nadia 1849
North 24 Parganas 5532
South 24 Parganas 3454
Paschim Bardhaman 1352
Purba Bardhaman 1289
Dakshin Dinajpur 298
Uttar Dinajpur 680
Bankura 629
Murshidabad 1985
West Bengal
Cooch Behar 673
Darjeeling 731
Alipurduar 394
Jalpaiguri 771
Jhargram 220
Paschim Medinipur 1066
Purba Medinipur 1584
Malda 1111
Purulia 638
Kalimpong 84
Birbhum 883
Total 34164
5ANNEXURE-V
District wise 5G mobile coverage status in West Bengal
Name of State Name of District Number of villages covered services
Alipurduar 276
Bankura 2085
Birbhum 1916
Cooch Behar 819
Dakshin Dinajpur 792
Darjeeling 523
Hooghly 1888
Howrah 784
Jalpaiguri 342
Jhargram 1657
Kalimpong 83
Malda 1241
West Bengal
Murshidabad 2011
Nadia 1231
North 24 Parganas 1597
Paschim Bardhaman 383
Paschim Medinipur 3800
Purba Bardhaman 1849
Purba Medinipur 2867
Purulia 1729
South 24 Parganas 2061
Uttar Dinajpur 1073
Total 31007
*****
6