Lok Sabha Question No. 529 (STARRED), answered on 2026-04-01
Subject: Wi-Fi Hotspots under PM-WANI Scheme
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Dr. Bhola Singh, Smt. Kamlesh Jangde

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 529 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01 ST  APRIL, 2026

## WI-FI HOTSPOTS UNDER PM-WANI SCHEME

## †*529.  SMT. KAMLESH JANGDE: DR. BHOLA SINGH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of Public Data Offices (PDOs), Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOAs) and App providers registered under the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface scheme since inception  of  the  said  scheme,  State/Union  Territory-wise  particularly  in  Bharatpur  Lok  Sabha Constituency in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh;
- (b) the total number of public Wi-Fi hotspots opertionalised under the scheme across the country particularly in Chhattisgarh;
- (c) whether  the  tourists  spots  under  the  Bharatpur  Lok  Sabha  Constituency  have  also  been covered under the said scheme;
- (d) the number of hotspots currently operational in Uttar Pradesh including Bulandshahr district; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government to increase the number of PM-WANI hotspots across the rural and remote areas such as Bharatpur and semi urban areas of the country particularly Bharatpur, Jalore and Sirohi of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh?

## ANSWER

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

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

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (A)  TO  (E)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 529 ANSWERED ON 01.04.2026 ASKED BY SMT. KAMLESH JANGDE & DR. BHOLA SINGH, HON'BLE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT REGARDING 'WI-FI HOTSPOTS UNDER PM-WANI SCHEME'

(a) As  on  28.2.2026,  the  number  of  Public  Data  Offices  (PDOs),  Public  Data  Office Aggregators (PDOAs) and app providers registered under the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) scheme since its inception are as under:

|   S. No. | States / Union Territories               | Number of PDOs   | Number of PDOAs   | Number of app providers   |
|----------|------------------------------------------|------------------|-------------------|---------------------------|
|        1 | Andaman &Nicobar                         | 275              | 5 25              | 113**                     |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh                           | 6,076            | 21                |                           |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh                        | 1,017            | 4                 |                           |
|        4 | Assam                                    | 2,612            | 15                |                           |
|        5 | Bihar                                    | 4,086            | 40                |                           |
|        6 | Chandigarh                               | 253              | 6                 |                           |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh                             | 2,839            | 20                |                           |
|        8 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 0                | 0                 |                           |
|        9 | Delhi                                    | 2,08,946         | 47                |                           |
|       10 | Goa                                      | 430              | 7                 |                           |
|       11 | Gujarat                                  | 11,857           |                   |                           |
|       12 | Haryana                                  | 18,474           | 32                |                           |
|       13 | Himachal Pradesh                         | 936              | 12                |                           |
|       14 | Jammu &Kashmir                           | 2,299            | 10                |                           |
|       15 | Jharkhand                                | 1,042            | 23                |                           |
|       16 | Karnataka                                | 21,842           | 44                |                           |
|       17 | Kerala                                   | 5,002            | 16                |                           |
|       18 | Ladakh                                   | 601              | 1                 |                           |
|       19 | Lakshadweep                              | 1                | 1                 |                           |
|       20 | Madhya Pradesh                           | 7,597            | 34                |                           |
|       21 | Maharashtra                              | 34,240           | 52                |                           |
|       22 | Manipur                                  | 21               | 8                 |                           |
|       23 | Meghalaya                                | 256              | 4                 |                           |
|       24 | Mizoram                                  | 3                | 2                 |                           |
|       25 | Nagaland                                 | 78               | 7                 |                           |
|       26 | Odisha                                   | 3,037            | 30                |                           |

| 27    | Puducherry    | 89       | 5    |
|-------|---------------|----------|------|
| 28    | Punjab        | 3,713    | 26   |
| 29    | Rajasthan     | 2,890    | 32   |
| 30    | Sikkim        | 13       | 2    |
| 31    | Tamil Nadu    | 7,504    | 31   |
| 32    | Telangana     | 4,288    | 21   |
| 33    | Tripura       | 310      | 8    |
| 34    | Uttar Pradesh | 51,590   | 55   |
| 35    | Uttarakhand   | 980      | 22   |
| 36    | West Bengal   | 4,206    | 47   |
| Total | Total         | 4,09,403 | 207* |

Further, as on 28.2.2026, the number of PDOs and PDOAs registered under the PM-WANI scheme since its inception in Bharatpur Lok Sabha constituency are 101 and 8 respectively.

- (b) The total number of public wi-fi hotspots operational under the PM-WANI scheme across the country, as on 28.2.2026, is 4,09,403 including 2,389 in the state of Chhattisgarh.
- (c) Under the PM-WANI framework, service provision is entirely market-driven, relying on local entrepreneurial initiative based on techno-commercial viability in an area. Government's role is limited to policy enablement.
- (d) The number of PM-WANI wi-fi hotspots operational as on 28.2.2026 in the state of Uttar Pradesh is 51,364 including 32 in Bulandshahr district.
- (e) With a view to increase the number of PM-WANI hotspots across the country, including in rural and remote areas, the following policy interventions under the scheme have been issued by the Department of Telecommunications on 16.9.2024:
- (i) To enable reduction in cost and enhance viability of PDOs, they have been allowed to:-
- (1) offer PM-WANI through a regular fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connection; and
- (2) aggregate  their  multiple  access  points  to  a  single  backhaul  towards  the  Internet Service Provider
- (ii) To enable generation of revenue and enhance viability:-
- (1) PDOs have been  allowed  to  offer  mobile  data  offload  service  to  telecom  service providers; and
- (2) PDOAs and app providers have been allowed to send content and promotional, and branding messages to potential PM-WANI wi-fi users, with user consent.
- (iii) To enhance user access and experience:-

(1) existing home and business users have been allowed to connect their  wi-fi access points to the larger PM-WANI network to enable generation of revenue and enhance viability.

(2) PDOAs have been allowed  roaming  among  themselves  to  enable  users  to  switch smoothly among PM-WANI wi-fi hotspots of different PDOAs.

Further,  to  reduce  cost  and  enhance  viability,  on  16.6.2025,  the  Telecom  Regulatory Authority of India has issued a tariff order on retail broadband connectivity for PDOs, mandating that Internet Service Providers offer all retail FTTH broadband plans with maximum speed up to 200 mega  bits  per  second to PDOs at  tariffs  not  more  than  twice the  corresponding  consumer broadband tariff.

*****