Lok Sabha Question No. 1850 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-11
Subject: Operational Public Data Offices/Public Data Office Aggregators under PM-WANI Scheme
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi, Ms. Praniti Sushilkumar Shinde, Shri Vishaldada Prakashbapu Patil, Dr. Bachhav Shobha Dinesh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1850 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11 TH  FEBRUARY, 2026

## OPERATIONAL PUBLIC DATA OFFICES/PUBLIC DATA OFFICE AGGREGATORS UNDER PM-WANI SCHEME

## 1850.   ADV GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI: MS. PRANITI SUSHILKUMAR SHINDE: SHRI VISHALDADA PRAKASHBAPU PATIL: DR. BACHHAV SHOBHA DINESH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the total number of operational Public Data Offices (PDOs) and Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOAs) registered under the PM-WANI scheme;
- (b) the  details  and  the  total  number  of  PM-WANI  hotspots  in  rural  areas  and  urban  areas specifically for the State of Maharashtra;
- (c) the  details  of  the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  control  for  the  high  cost  of commercial broadband that small and medium-sized entrepreneurs cannot undertake, limiting the accessibility of fiber connections; and
- (d) whether the Government has taken any steps to incentivise last-mile connectivity in tribal and remote areas in Maharashtra, specifically in industrial districts in cities such as Solapur, Nandurbar, Bhandara, Sangli and Dhule?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (DR. PEMMASANI CHANDRA SEKHAR)

- (a) Total number of Public Data Offices (PDOs) and Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOAs) registered under the PM-WANI scheme, as on 31.01.2026 is as below:
- (b) Total number of PM-WANI hotspots in State of Maharashtra (including Rural and Urban area) are 34,112 as give below.

Total Count of PDOs         :

4,06,874

Total Count of PDOAs      :

207

| PM-WANI WIFI HOTSPOTS (Maharashtra)   | Count   |
|---------------------------------------|---------|
| PM-WANI Hotspot in Rural              | 7,266   |
| PM-WANI Hotspot in Urban              | 26,846  |
| Total                                 | 34,112  |

(c) Under Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) scheme, to address the issues relating to proliferation of Public Wi-Fi Access Points, a series of interventions in the existing PM-WANI  Framework  and  Guidelines  for  Registrations  has  been  issued  by  Department  of Telecommunication on 16.09.2024. One of the policy interventions was to allow Public Data Offices (PDOs)  to  offer  PM  WANI  through  a  regular  FTTH  connection  which  will  reduce  their cost.   Further, on 16.06.2025, Telecom  Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)  released a Telecommunication  Tariff  (71st  Amendment)  Order,  2025  related  to  tariff  for  retail  broadband connectivity for Public Data Offices (PDOs).  This order mandates that all retail FTTH broadband plans  up  to  200 Mbps must  be  offered  to Public  Data  Offices  (PDOs) at  tariffs  not  more  than twice the corresponding consumer broadband price.

Also,  BharatNet  project  is  being  implemented  in  a  phased  manner  to  create  network  to connect all the Gram Panchayats (GPs)/ Villages with broadband in the country. This infrastructure is leased to TSPs/ISPs for provision of internet connectivity in GPs/rural areas including villages/ Government institutions, schools, and private areas.

(d) Government initiatives for improving mobile network coverage / connectivity gaps in remote, underserved areas of the country including Maharasthra, are being implemented under the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) scheme.

The status of FTTH connections provided in these districts is as under:

|           |   No. of FTTH connections provided through BharatNet |
|-----------|------------------------------------------------------|
| Solapur   |                                                  207 |
| Nandurbar |                                                  683 |
| Bhandara  |                                                  347 |
| Sangli    |                                                  461 |
| Dhule     |                                                  305 |

Also, in state of Maharashtra 31,389 FTTH connections have been provided under BharatNet project.

The  mobile  coverage  status  as  on  31.12.2025  in  the  cities  of  Maharashtra  state  namely Solapur, Nandurbar, Bhandara, Sangli and Dhule are as under:

| District   |   Total No of Villages |   No of Villages with mobile coverage |   No of Villages with 2G mobile coverage |   No of Villages with 3G mobile coverage |   No of Villages with 4G mobile coverage |   No of Villages with 5G mobile coverage |
|------------|------------------------|---------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| Bhandara   |                    885 |                                   876 |                                      817 |                                       45 |                                      865 |                                      773 |
| Dhule      |                    720 |                                   719 |                                      657 |                                      352 |                                      712 |                                      567 |
| Nandurbar  |                    960 |                                   913 |                                      723 |                                      347 |                                      889 |                                      732 |
| Sangli     |                    724 |                                   721 |                                      698 |                                      319 |                                      719 |                                      622 |
| Solapur    |                   1159 |                                  1158 |                                     1108 |                                      164 |                                     1153 |                                     1058 |

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