Lok Sabha Question No. 574 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-03
Subject: Survey of Commercially Unviable Rural and Remote Areas for Mobile Connectivity
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Smt. Delkar Kalaben Mohanbhai, Dr. Shivaji Bandappa Kalge, Shri Bhumare Sandipanrao Asaram, Shri Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke, Shri Gyaneshwar Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 574 ANSWERED ON 3 RD  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 .

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 |

| Shajapur    |   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 |

| Washim      |   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 |

## Annexure-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 |
| 7        | Dadra &Nagar Haveli and Daman &Diu |                   16 |                25 |
| 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    | Total                              |                20681 |             29439 |

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