Lok Sabha Question No. 2936 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-06
Subject: Internet and Wi-Fi facility for Farmers
Ministry: COMMUNICATION
Asked by: Shri Saumitra Khan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2936 ANSWERED ON 6 TH  AUGUST, 2025

## INTERNET AND WI-FI FACILITY FOR FARMERS

## 2936.   SHRI SAUMITRA KHAN:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATION be pleased to state:

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

- (b) if so, the measures/actions being taken by the Government on this issue especially in the State of West Bengal; and

(c) if not, the reasons therefor and by when the target of providing internet and Wi-Fi facility in all the villages across the country 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, 6,24,147  villages  are  having  internet  facility  (3G/4G)  through  mobile  coverage  network  as  on 31.05.2025.

(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 including West Bengal. A total of 13,01,193 no. of FTTH connections have been commissioned in the country including 58,251 no. of FTTH connections of West Bengal through BharatNet. The Wi-Fi technology enabled FTTH connections are being used for accessing the all type of online services such as e-education, e-health, e-governance, e-commerce, etc.  including the farmers in increasing their knowledge about agriculture and keep them updated about new development in agriculture. As on May 2025, out of the  total  40,971  villages  in  West  Bengal,  40,935  villages  are  having  internet  facility  (3G/4G) through mobile network coverage.

Also, various steps 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 by to improve the mobile coverage and internet connectivity in villages of West Bengal.

|   Sl. No | Name of Project/ Scheme   |   Planned | Remarks                                                                                                                                        |
|----------|---------------------------|-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | 4G Saturation             |        35 | 14 mobile tower sites are radiating                                                                                                            |
|        2 | BoP-BiP                   |        35 | 4 mobile sites are radiating                                                                                                                   |
|        3 | BharatNet                 |      3340 | 2677 Gram Panchayats are connected by Optical Fibre. Amended BharatNet to cover all Gram Panchayats on Optical Fibre Ring topology is planned. |

Further in compliance with Part-V (Optical Fiber Cable) of the Scheme named as 'Scheme for  Special Assistance to states for Capital  Investment  2022-23', approval has been received for projects amounting Rs. 2716 crores in respect of 24 states including Rs. 232 crores for the state of West Bengal.

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 WiFi Access Network Interface (PMWANI). As on date 3,08,283 PM Wani Wi-Fi Hotspots are installed across the country including 4,139 in West Bengal.

*****