BharatNet now connects 171,000 blocks

Nearly 171,000 gram panchayats or village blocks are now service-ready following the BharatNet initiative, said K Rajaraman, secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), on Wednesday.

BharatNet, a national programme to connect villages with high-speed optic fibre cable, was initially launched in 2012, but has missed several deadlines, with low capacity utilisation being one of the key concerns for the department. The programme aims to connect 250,000 blocks encompassing more than 600,000 villages by 2025.

"And, as of now, I think 5,000 terabytes of data is being consumed on a monthly basis," Rajaraman said at a virtual industry event.


The current deployment will accelerate in the coming months due to "more effective utilisation" by partners such as telecom operators and internet service providers, he added. "The production-linked incentive schemes will make available mobile phones, electronic equipment at much cheaper prices, which the rural customers can afford," Rajaraman said.