Lok Sabha Question No. 149 (STARRED), answered on 2025-12-10
Subject: Broadband Connectivity in Gram Panchayats
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Smt. Vijaylakshmi Devi, Smt. Kamlesh Jangde

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 149 ANSWERED ON 10 TH  DECEMBER, 2025

## BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY IN GRAM PANCHAYATS

## †*149.  SMT. VIJAYLAKSHMI DEVI: SMT. KAMLESH JANGDE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  current  status  of  implementation  of  BharatNet  to  provide  broadband  connectivity  to Gram Panchayats across the country;
- (b) the number of villages in Siwan, Gopalganj, Maharajganj, Chhapra districts of Bihar, Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh and Janjgir-Champa, Sakti, Balodabazar and Sarangarh-Bilaigarh districts of Chhattisgarh that have been provided internet access till date under the said project; and
- (c) whether the Government has taken any steps to ensure timely completion of Phase-II and to strengthen the maintenance of infrastructure in far flung areas and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION (SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA)

- (a) to (c) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) to (c) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.149 FOR 10 TH  DECEMBER, 2025 REGARDING 'BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY IN GRAM PANCHAYATS.'

(a) BharatNet  project  is  being  implemented  in  a  phased  manner  to  provide  broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (GPs). The total number of GPs undertaken under BharatNet Phase-I  and  Phase-II  are  2,22,341  GPs,  out  of  which  2,14,904  are  Service  Ready.  Further, Government has approved the Amended BharatNet Program on 04.08.2023 through which Optical Fiber Connectivity is to be provided to ~2.64 lakh GPs and ~3.8 lakh non-GP villages on demand basis.

(b) The number of villages in Siwan, Gopalganj, Maharajganj, Chhapra districts of Bihar, Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh and Janjgir-Champa, Sakti, Balodabazar and Sarangarh-Bilaigarh districts of Chhattisgarh that have been provided internet access till date under BharatNet are as follows.

| State        | District                          |   Villages with internet access |
|--------------|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| Bihar        | Siwan                             |                             164 |
| Bihar        | Gopalganj                         |                             208 |
| Bihar        | Chhapra (Saran District)          |                             251 |
| Bihar        | Maharajganj Block, Siwan District |                              33 |
| UP           | Deoria                            |                             219 |
| Chhattisgarh | Janjgir-Champa                    |                             317 |
| Chhattisgarh | Sakti                             |                             310 |
| Chhattisgarh | Baloda Bazar                      |                             484 |
| Chhattisgarh | Sarangarh-Bilaigarh               |                             303 |

(c) The total number of GPs undertaken under BharatNet Phase-II are 1,02,133, out of which 94,725  GPs  are  Service  Ready.  The  implementation  strategy  of  BharatNet  has  been  revised  in Amended  BharatNet  Program  (ABP)  and  following  have  been  included  to  strengthen  the maintenance of infrastructure:

- (i) Creation and Upgradation of BharatNet network in ring architecture
- (ii) Operations & Maintenance of the entire network based on Service Level Agreement (SLA)
- (iii) Single  Project  Implementation  Agency  (PIA)  for  construction  and  O&M  of  the network in a Package
- (iv) Dedicated Network Operation Centre

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