When Digital India launched in 2015, most villages had no broadband. BharatNet — the successor to the National Optical Fibre Network — set out to fix that by laying government-owned optical fibre to every gram panchayat (village council). Phase I connected over 1 lakh panchayats by December 2017.
BharatNet · Rural Broadband
BharatNet · Rural Broadband
BharatNet is one of the world's largest rural-connectivity projects: laying optical fibre to India's gram panchayats so villages get the same broadband backbone as cities. Nearly 2.14 lakh of ~2.56 lakh panchayats are connected. The counter shows that rollout.
2.14 lakh
Gram panchayats connected
42 lakh km
Optical fibre laid (2025)
100 cr+
Broadband connections (2025)
Gram panchayats connected
| Year | Gram panchayats connected |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 0 lakh |
| 2015 | 0 lakh |
| 2016 | 1 lakh |
| 2017 | 1 lakh |
| 2018 | 1 lakh |
| 2019 | 1 lakh |
| 2020 | 2 lakh |
| 2021 | 2 lakh |
| 2022 | 2 lakh |
| 2023 | 2 lakh |
| 2024 | 2 lakh |
| 2025 | 2 lakh |
| 2026 | 2 lakh |
2014
0lakh
Gram panchayats connected
20142026
Since 2014
Added
+2 lakh
2014
0 lakh
2026
2 lakh
Why it matters Fibre to the village is the backbone under Digital India — it powers rural e-governance, telemedicine, online education, banking and markets. Without it, UPI and Aadhaar can't reach the last mile. It turns connectivity into opportunity.
- ~2.14 lakh of India's ~2.56 lakh gram panchayats are connected (Phases I & II, ~Rs 42,000 crore).
- Optical fibre grew from ~19 lakh route-km (2019) to ~42 lakh route-km (2025).
- BharatNet Phase III (2026) aims to connect all remaining panchayats and ~6.25 lakh villages by 2028.
- India's broadband connections crossed 100 crore in late 2025, from ~13 crore a decade earlier.
History
Notable milestone
By late 2025, nearly 2.14–2.15 lakh of India's ~2.56 lakh gram panchayats were service-ready, backed by about 6.95 lakh km of optical fibre. In a parallel milestone, India's total broadband connections crossed 100 crore (1 billion) in November 2025 — up from just ~13 crore a decade earlier.
How it works
BharatNet reuses existing fibre of public undertakings like BSNL, RailTel and PowerGrid, and lays incremental fibre to bridge the last gap to each panchayat. From there, local operators and Wi-Fi (PM-WANI hotspots) extend service to homes, schools and Common Service Centres. Remote and border panchayats are linked by satellite where fibre can't reach.
Outlook
Cheap data made India a digital nation — costs fell from about Rs 269 per GB in 2014 to Rs 8–10 today, among the lowest on earth. BharatNet's fibre is the wholesale backbone under that: it carries the UPI payments, telemedicine, e-governance and online classes that now reach deep into rural India.
The road ahead
The unconnected panchayats are the hardest — remote, hilly or sparsely populated. BharatNet Phase III, launched in May 2026 with a ~Rs 1.5 lakh crore outlay, aims to connect all remaining panchayats and about 6.25 lakh villages by 2028 on a public-private model, 5G-backhaul ready. Keeping the network maintained and actually used is the real test.
By the numbers
~2.14 lakh of ~2.56 lakh gram panchayats connected. ~42 lakh route-km of optical fibre nationwide (2025). Rs 42,000 crore spent across Phases I & II. 100 crore+ broadband connections (2025). Phase III: ~Rs 1.5 lakh crore, all villages by 2028. Sources: DoT, BBNL, PIB.
Source: Dept of Telecom / BBNL — gram panchayats connected by optical fibre under BharatNet, 2014–2026.