The government has informed the parliament that 184,399 gram panchayats in the country have been made service-ready with broadband infrastructure under BharatNet, as of November 28, 2022.
In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said that the BharatNet project is being implemented in all the gram panchayats and villages of the country to provide high-speed internet and broadband.
The minister added that the scope of the BharatNet project has recently been extended to all inhabited villages beyond gram panchayats. Under the project, last-mile connectivity is provided through fibre-to-the-home connections, Wi-Fi access points, and internet facilities to government institutions, among others. He informed that as of date, Wi-Fi access points have been installed in 104,664 gram panchayats. Further, the proliferation of broadband through public Wi-Fi networks is also being done through the Prime Minister Wireless Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) framework.
