BharatNet plan to set up rural fibre networks slowed down in pandemic

Completion rate is less than a third, and at current pace it would take another two years to cover all gram panchayats in the country.

A government project that started two decades to set up high-speed fibre networks in rural areas is crawling and could miss its target again, data shows.

BharatNet, which was previously called National Optical Fibre Network, was to connect 100,000 gram panchayats by 2013. It took six years to achieve the target. The government connected 100,000 gram panchayats in December 2017.

Work has improved, but it would take another two years to cover all gram panchayats in the country. The government aimed to connect all 262,825 gram panchayats by March 2019. It has now set the target at 2025.

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