Lok Sabha Question No. 472 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Broadband Connection in Rural Areas
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Abhishek Banerjee

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 472 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH  JULY, 2022

## BROADBAND CONNECTION IN RURAL AREAS

## 472. SHRI ABHISHEK BANERJEE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the percentage of population with access to broadband connection in rural India and the State-wise breakup thereof;
- (b) the details of the steps being taken to increase this broadband penetration in rural India; and
- (c) the details of the steps being taken to increase digital financial literacy in rural areas?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

- (a) As per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Yearly Performance Indicators Indian Telecom Sector  (Sixth  Edition)  2021,  out  of  792.09  million  broadband  subscribers,  number  of  rural  broadband subscribers is 314.83 million. Rural internet tele-density increased from 34.60 to 37.25 from Dec-20 to Dec-21. The state-wise rural broadband subscribers percentage is attached as Annexure
- (b) Mobile/Broadband/Internet  services  are  provided  in  a  phased  manner  by  the  Government  and Telecom Services Provider (TSPs) in the uncovered villages of the country. The Government, with funding from  Universal  Service  Obligation  Fund  (USOF),  has  schemes  namely Comprehensive  Telecom Development  Plan  for  North  Eastern  Region,  Left  Wing  Extremism  (LWE) Affected  Area  schemes, Aspirational Districts Schemes, Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for Islands, etc. to extend mobile connectivity through setting up of towers in the uncovered villages of the country.

BharatNet project is implemented in a phased manner to provide broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country. The infrastructure created under BharatNet project can be utilized by Service providers, for provisioning of broadband/internet services. The scope of BharatNet has been recently extended up to all inhabited villages beyond GPs in the country.

National Broadband Mission (NBM) was launched on 17th December 2019 with a vision to fasttrack  growth  of  digital  communications  infrastructure,  bridge  the  digital  divide,  facilitate  digital empowerment and inclusion, and provide affordable and universal access of broadband for all.

To enhance proliferation of broadband services through public Wifi, Prime Minister Wireless Access Network  Interface  (PM-WANI)  framework  has  been  introduced.    The  PM-WANI  framework  enables provision  of  broadband  through  a  distributed  architecture  and  unbundling  of  functions.  Under  this framework entities are neither required to take any license nor pay any fee to the Government. The details of the same are available at website pmwani.gov.in

(c)  Various  promotion  and  awareness  campaigns,  through  traditional  means  of  publicity  as  well  as emergent means such as social media platforms, have been initiated by Government to encourage citizens to use digital payments.

## Annexure

## State/UT wise number of Broadband subscribers in Rural India per 100 population as of 31 st March 2022

|   S.No. | State(s)                  |   Total Rural subscribers (in millions) |   Tele-density (%) |
|---------|---------------------------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------|
|       1 | Andhra Pradesh            |                                   14.91 |              43.92 |
|       2 | Arunachal Pradesh         |                                    0.44 |              38.3  |
|       3 | Assam                     |                                    9.19 |              30.7  |
|       4 | Bihar                     |                                   26.73 |              24.34 |
|       5 | Chattisgarh               |                                    6.86 |              31.39 |
|       6 | Goa                       |                                    0.59 |             150.5  |
|       7 | Gujarat                   |                                   15.8  |              43.19 |
|       8 | Haryana                   |                                    7.79 |              44.64 |
|       9 | Himachal Pradesh          |                                    3.8  |              56.91 |
|      10 | Jharkhand                 |                                    8.36 |              28.98 |
|      11 | Karnataka                 |                                   16.4  |              43.48 |
|      12 | Kerala                    |                                   13.73 |             144.66 |
|      13 | Madhya Pradesh            |                                   15.6  |              25.63 |
|      14 | Maharashtra incl. Mumbai  |                                   29.04 |              44.74 |
|      15 | Manipur                   |                                    0.83 |              38.37 |
|      16 | Meghalaya                 |                                    1.06 |              40.07 |
|      17 | Mizoram                   |                                    0.45 |              81.53 |
|      18 | Nagaland                  |                                    0.85 |              68.94 |
|      19 | Odisha                    |                                   13.14 |              36.59 |
|      20 | Punjab                    |                                    8.4  |              47    |
|      21 | Rajasthan                 |                                   20.27 |              34.36 |
|      22 | Sikkim                    |                                    0.23 |              62.43 |
|      23 | Tamil Nadu incl. Chennai  |                                   14.41 |              40.23 |
|      24 | Telangana                 |                                   10.77 |              53.54 |
|      25 | Tripura                   |                                    0.86 |              33.78 |
|      26 | Uttar Pradesh (UPE+UPW)   |                                   45.39 |              25.54 |
|      27 | Uttarakhand               |                                    3.76 |              50.57 |
|      28 | West Bengal incl. Kolkata |                                   19.78 |              31.53 |

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