Bharat Net is one of the world’s largest government-led connectivity programs and is playing a transformative role in bridging the digital divide and expanding broadband access in rural India. This statement was given by Union Communications and North Eastern Region Development Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday.

Union Minister Scindia, while replying to a question asked in the Rajya Sabha, said that BharatNet is an ambitious initiative of the Government of India, which aims to provide internet connectivity to every citizen of the country and in the last eleven years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has seen unprecedented expansion in mobile and broadband connectivity, which is driving the historic digital transformation.

The Union Minister said that BharatNet provides connectivity by laying Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) in Gram Panchayats. Of the country’s 2,56,000 gram panchayats, about 2,14,000 have been made online under BharatNet Phase I and II, at an estimated cost of Rs 42,000 crore.

According to the Union Minister, the number of mobile subscribers in the country has increased from 93 crore in 2014 to 1.2 billion today, while mobile penetration has increased from 75 percent to 92 percent.

He further said that the number of Internet subscribers has increased from 250 million in 2014 to more than 1 billion, while penetration has increased from 20 percent to about 71.8 percent. The number of broadband subscribers has also increased from 60 million to more than 1 billion, while the average fixed broadband speed is now around 61.55 Mbps.

Scindia also explained about the 2030 goals of the National Broadband Mission (NBM) 2.0, launched on April 1, 2025.

The Union Minister informed that the national average fixed broadband download speed is 61.55 Mbps, the target is to take it to 100 Mbps by 2030. Whereas OFC connectivity with 95 percent uptime has been achieved in 42,000 villages by December 2025, a target has been set to take it to 2.7 lakh villages by 2030. At present there are 47.16 rural internet subscribers per 100 population and a target has been set to take it to 60 by 2030.