As per the data shared by the Economic Survey on the BharatNet project, 5.46 lakh km of optical fibre cable has been laid so far and a total of 1.73 lakh gram panchayats are connected and 1.59 lakh gram panchayats are service-ready on OFC.
February 18, 2022
In the Budget 2022-23 speech, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman announced that BharatNet broadband will be ready by 2025. She also informed that BharatNet contracts for the laying of optical fibre cable (OFC) in villages and remote areas will be awarded via a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
Sitharaman said, “Measures will be taken to promote better and more efficient use of the optical fibre and export promotion.”
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According to the recent Economic Survey, 5.46 lakh km of optical fibre cable has been laid so far. It also added that a total of 1.73 lakh gram panchayats (GPs) have been linked with optical fibre cable and 1.59 lakh gram panchayats are service-ready on OFC, as of September 27, 2021.
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Within the BharatNet project, the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with seven Indian states including Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand. These states will roll out the cable project themselves with partial financial assistance from the central government.
