Parliament Question: Wi-Fi Facility benefit to Farmers

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4497 ANSWERED ON 20TH AUGUST, 2025 WI-FI FACILITY BENEFIT TO FARMERS †4497. SHRI SANATAN PANDEY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has provided internet and Wi-Fi facilities in all the villages of the country for the benefit of farmers so that they can increase their knowledge about agriculture sector and keep getting information about new developments in agriculture sector;

(b) if so, the measures/action being taken by the Government in this regard; and

(c) if not, the time by which the target of providing internet and Wi-Fi facilities in all the villages across the country is likely to be achieved? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)

(a) As per RGI (Registrar General of India) data, out of the total 6,44,131 villages in the country, 6,26,055 villages are having internet facility (3G/4G) through mobile coverage network as on

30.06.2025.

(b) & (c) BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) and villages in the country. A total of 13,01,193 no. of FTTH connections have been commissioned in the country through BharatNet. The Wi-Fi technology enabled FTTH connections are being used for accessing all type of online services such as e-education, e-health, e-governance, e-commerce, etc. including the usage by farmers in increasing their knowledge about agriculture and keeping themselves updated about new development in agriculture.

Various projects such as 4G saturation project, Border Out Posts (BoP)-Border Intelligence Posts (BiP) project, BharatNet project etc under Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) are being taken up to improve the mobile coverage and internet connectivity in villages. Under 4G saturation project till Jun-2025, 21,748 mobile towers have been commissioned in the country under various Government funded mobile projects.

Further Government of India had launched a redesigned and expanded Scheme for the year 2022-23 named “Scheme for Special Assistance to states for Capital Investment 2022-23”. A total amount of Rs 3000 crores was earmarked for Part-V (Optical Fiber Cable) of the Scheme for Special Assistance to states for Capital Investment 2022-23. Funds can be used to extend Bharatnet to Villages from the GPs covered as at present for Last Mile Connectivity (LMC) on the OFC to Government Institutions (like School, Health Centre, Anganwadi, Police Station, Krishi Vikash Kendra, Post Office, ration Shop etc.), Private Institutions and Households from Bharat Net network.

The Union Cabinet has also approved the proposal of Department of Telecom (DoT) to proliferate Broadband through Public Wi-Fi networks under the framework of Prime Minister’s Wi- Fi Access Network Interface (PMWANI). Currently, 3,53,105 PMWANI Wi-Fi Hotspots are installed across the country.

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