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. The Department of Telecommunications' own year-wise table runs from 58 gram panchayats connected in 2013 to 2,14,904 as on 31 December 2025, against 2,22,343 planned for the first two phases. The counter shows that table.
2,14,904
Gram panchayats connected (31 December 2025)
42 lakh km
Optical fibre laid (2025)
100 cr+
Broadband connections (2025)
Gram panchayats connected (2013 → 31 December 2025)
| Year | Gram panchayats connected |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 58 gram panchayats |
| 2014 | 58 gram panchayats |
| 2015 | 385 gram panchayats |
| 2016 | 6,342 gram panchayats |
| 2017 | 17,555 gram panchayats |
| 2018 | 1,04,748 gram panchayats |
| 2019 | 1,16,178 gram panchayats |
| 2020 | 1,35,331 gram panchayats |
| 2021 | 1,54,619 gram panchayats |
| 2022 | 1,74,282 gram panchayats |
| 2023 | 1,90,441 gram panchayats |
| 2024 | 2,11,661 gram panchayats |
| 2025 | 2,14,904 gram panchayats |
2013
0gram panchayats
Gram panchayats connected
20132025
Since 2013
Added
+2,14,846 gram panchayats
2013
58 gram panchayats
2025
2,14,904 gram panchayats
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.
- Gram panchayats connected: 58 (2013) → 1,04,748 (March 2018) → 2,14,904 (31 December 2025), against 2,22,343 planned for Phases I and II.
- 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 31 December 2025, 2,14,904 gram panchayats — against the 2,22,343 planned for Phases I and II — were connected, backed by close to 7 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.
By the numbers
2,14,904 gram panchayats connected (31 December 2025), against 2,22,343 planned for Phases I and II. ~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.
Data current to: as on 31 December 2025
Source: Department of Telecommunications — gram panchayats connected under BharatNet, from the one official year-wise table: the annexure to Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 656, answered 5 February 2026 (linked), headed "Year-wise details of number of Gram Panchayats connected under the BharatNet project". The figures for 2013 to 2024 are positions at 31 March, matching PIB's own annexure of 27 November 2024; the 2025 figure is as on 31 December 2025. The plan for Phases I and II is 2,22,343 gram panchayats. A separate count of panchayats made service-ready, which includes block headquarters, is larger and is not charted here. · link