₹10,520 Crore Approved for Revised BharatNet Program in Maharashtra; Over 28,000 Gram Panchayats to Gain Connectivity
Under an agreement between the Department of Telecommunications and the Maharashtra Government, broadband connectivity will be expanded to 28,237 Gram Panchayats and 15,799 villages across the state.
The Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has signed a significant agreement to strengthen digital infrastructure and enhance broadband connectivity in rural Maharashtra. The agreement, signed during a program held at Sanchar Bhawan in New Delhi, establishes a consensus to implement the revised BharatNet Program (ABP) under a state-driven model.
This agreement was entered into by the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN), Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the Government of Maharashtra, Mahanet Digital Infrastructure Limited (MDIL), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), and Maharashtra Information Technology Corporation Limited (MahaIT). Several senior officials attended the event, including Mr. Shyamal Mishra, Administrator of DBN; Mr. Virendra Singh, Secretary of the Electronics, IT, and AI Department of the Government of Maharashtra; Mrs. Bhuvaneshwari S., MD of MahaIT; Mr. Papa Sudhakar Rao, Director (Enterprise Business) of BSNL; and Mr. Dinesh Kumar Garg, DDG of the Department of Telecommunications.
The Union Cabinet approved the revised BharatNet Program on August 4, 2023, with the objective of upgrading and expanding the existing network to provide future-ready broadband connectivity to Gram Panchayats and villages based on demand.
In Maharashtra, the project will be implemented through Mahanet Digital Infrastructure Limited (MDIL). A total of 28,237 Gram Panchayats will be covered under the program. This includes upgrading 15,171 Gram Panchayats from the first phase from linear topology to ring topology, covering 12,740 Gram Panchayats from the second phase, and adding 326 new Gram Panchayats. Additionally, 15,799 villages will be provided with connectivity according to their requirements.
The Government of India has approved financial assistance of ₹10,520 crore for this program. It is expected that this will lead to the installation of fiber connections in more than nine lakh households in rural areas. The initiative is set to improve the delivery of services such as e-governance, online education, telemedicine, and digital payments in the remote regions of the state.
Digital Bharat Nidhi (formerly USOF) was established on April 1, 2002, under the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003, and has been renamed Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) in accordance with the Telecommunications Act, 2023. It is an attached office of the Department of Telecommunications under the Ministry of Communications, working on projects such as BharatNet, the 4G Saturation Project, and mobile services in border and Northeastern areas to increase the reach of telecommunication services in rural and underserved regions.
