According to a statement from the government of India, it is estimated that out of 5,97,618 inhabited villages in the country, 5,58,537 villages have mobile wireless broadband coverage.
In addition to this, the BharatNet project is envisaged in all the gram panchayats (GPs) and villages of the country to provide high-speed internet/broadband, the Minister of State for Communications, Devusinh Chauhan said.
As of 28 February 2022, a total of 1,72,361 gram panchayats have been made service ready in the country with broadband infrastructure under BharatNet, he added.
According to the Minister, monitoring of availability of Internet facilities is done based on the number of subscribers. The availability of Internet connectivity enables the public to access all kinds of online digital services including in the field of education and healthcare.
Under the BharatNet scheme, the government of India through the Department of Telecom has created a strategic plan for providing broadband connectivity to all 250,000 panchayats on fibre optic cable of 100 Mbps speed.
BharatNet, also known as Bharat Broadband Network Limited, is a government-owned broadband infrastructure provider, set up by the Department of Telecommunications, a department under the Ministry of Communications of the Government of India for the establishment, management, and operation of the National Optical Fibre Network to provide a minimum of 100 Mbit/s broadband connectivity to all 250,000-gram panchayats in the country, covering nearly 625,000 villages, by improving the middle layer of nation-wide broadband internet in India to achieve the goal of Digital India.
