Why BharatNet Remains An Unfinished Dream

Launched in 2011, and executed over three phases, the BharatNet programme has missed four major deadlines–in 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2023–and is set to miss the 2025 deadline of connecting rural India to broadband internet. Delays in achieving targets, under utilisation of funds, and regional inequalities in access to broadband facilities have held the project back, our reporting shows and experts say.

“Key challenges (for the BharatNet programme) have been the shifting goalposts, slackening deadlines and lack of coordination with other agencies and entities, especially those who can and should leverage broadband,” said Deepak Maheswari, Senior Policy Advisor at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP), a public policy think-tank based in New Delhi.

The BharatNet vision

The vision for connecting gram panchayats with fiber-optic internet started in 2011, with the creation of the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN). Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) was created in 2012 as a Special Purpose Vehicle for execution of NOFN. In June 2009, President Pratibha Patil, in her address to the 15th Lok Sabha, announced the government’s plan to extend fiber connectivity to every gram panchayat.

In 2015, the Committee on National Optical Fibre Network–members of which included Former Information Technology Secretary J Satyanarayana, Department of Telecom officials A K Bhargava and V Umashankar, and industry experts Kiran Karnik, the president of industry body National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) from 2001 to 2007, and Som Mittal, who was NASSCOM president from 2008 to 2013–noted that the NOFN programme had several issues in implementation. “The challenges faced in implementation of NOFN have affected its progress adversely. The Committee has been given to understand that optical fibre cable is likely to reach only about 15,000-20,000 GPs [Gram Panchayat] in Phase-I by March 31, 2015,” the committee noted.

The committee suggested that the programme be renamed as “BharatNet to reflect the national aspiration”. Its vision was to “establish, by 2017, a highly scalable network infrastructure accessible on a non-discriminatory basis, to provide on demand, affordable broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for all households”.

The government divided the NOFN project into three phases. Phase I, launched in 2011, which aimed to connect 100,000 gram panchayats by 2014 but the programme had connected only 58 gram panchayats by March 2014.

Starting in 2015, renaming it to BharatNet, Phase II expanded the target to an additional 150,000 gram panchayats, but had only achieved part of this target by the extended August 2023 deadline, with 86.75% of gram panchayats or 2.13 lakh, connected.

Phase III, with a deadline of 2025, aims to connect all 6.5 lakh villages to the main fiber network, by focusing on innovative approaches, including partnerships with village-level entrepreneurs called BharatNet Udyamis, who operate through the public-private partnership (PPP) model to deliver services at the local level.

Infrastructure issues

BBNL had planned to assign telecom service providers like BSNL to lay fiber to Gram Panchayats, who would then hire local contractors for last-mile connectivity (similar to cable operators in urban cable networks). According to a 2024 study by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), a New Delhi-based think tank, one of the challenges was that the programme assumed that existing telecom providers would handle last-mile connectivity. But rural areas lacked such providers, forcing a shift for the programme from middle-mile–connecting gram panchayats to the main fibre network–to last-mile connectivity, which means that internet connections have to reach homes. The project later adopted a ring topology–which would provide more than one pathway to connect a single village–for better network stability.

The ICRIER study also highlighted the underutilisation of infrastructure as another issue. Despite building an extensive network, less than 1.19% of the available bandwidth for data consumption is used in rural areas, the study notes, adding that Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) connections or connecting the home via Optical Fibre Connection have reached only 2% of rural households as of February 2023.

Additionally, as per the Digital Bharat Nidhi website , only 1,221,014 FTTH connections have been commissioned, leaving 97% of rural households unconnected. As per a BBNL report from September 2024, which says 104,574 WiFi hotspots have been installed (covering around 48% of service-ready gram panchayats), only 6% are active.

Common Service Centres(CSCs), responsible for operations and maintenance of the BharatNet network, did not function properly, and there was no dedicated funding to maintain BharatNet infrastructure, affecting service quality. To fix this issue, the government has approved the Amended BharatNet Program, ensuring 10 years of operation and maintenance through a Centralised Network Operating Centre (CNOC) and payments to Project Implementation Agencies (PIAs) based on Service Quality Agreements (SLA), as per this press release from December 2024.

Funding

Of the ₹171,588.7 crore budget for the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) – now called the Digital Bharat Nidhi, which funds BharatNet, only about half (49.6%) had been spent by August 2023.

Explaining the reason for the spending gap, Maheswari of CSEP said, "the real challenge is insufficient absorptive and execution capacity of the state rather than finances”. The states are unable to spend funds well because of several reasons including outsourcing to many Public Sector Units like BSNL, frequent project scope changes, and shifting from a centralised model–with the central government running the programme–to a state-led and now to a private-led model.

Other challenges, Maheswari said, include logistical challenges like limited power supply in rural areas, right-of-way issues which make it hard to get permission to lay cables or build infrastructure on land owned by the government, private individuals, or other organisations, and contractor inefficiencies.

“Recognising that broadband connectivity is a means to impart and improve delivery of education and healthcare, etc., it is noteworthy that the National Broadband Mission 2.0 unveiled in January 2025 targets to connect 90% of anchor institutions like schools and primary healthcare centres in rural areas by 2030,” said Maheswari. “It is also appreciable to see the budgetary allocation of Rs. 20,000 crores for BharatNet…However, considering the nature of the project, it would be better to plan for three to five years rather than being subject to the variations in the annual budgets.”

Unused Funds Under The BharatNet Programme

Source: Digital Bharat Nidhi

Note: UAL (Unadjusted Accrued Liabilities) Collections refers to money that has been recorded as due but has not yet been settled or adjusted in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) accounts. It represents outstanding amounts that are expected to be collected but might still need final adjustments

The funds for Digital Bharat Nidhi include funds under schemes preceding the BharatNet programme.

Poor planning and accountability

Poor planning and a lack of accountability systems have also contributed to delays, said Maheswari. As per a report in the Indian Express, the project struggled to execute plans under challenging terrains like the northeastern states. The ICRIER study says, in Phase I, when the national average for service-ready gram panchayats was 42%, in most northeastern states, less than 10% were service-ready. Even by the end of 2023, less than 60% of the gram panchayats in northeastern states were service-ready, against the national average of 79%, the study found.

Another major concern is the absence of a robust monitoring and assessment mechanism. While BharatNet mentions third-party assessments, experts say no publicly available audit reports exist to verify the project's progress or effectiveness.

Impact on Critical Sectors

The delays in BharatNet’s implementation have had far-reaching effects on services including e-governance, education and healthcare, experts say.

“In most e-governance models, challenges arise due to lack of infrastructure, such as inadequate Aadhaar centers, making it difficult for people to access essential services. Additionally, online systems fail to account for offline realities, creating barriers for marginalised communities,” said Visakhapatnam-based Chakradhar Buddha, Senior Researcher at Libtech, who studies the challenges marginalised communities face due to the digitalisation of public services and e-governance in India.

For example, he said, in many Adivasi areas, births occur non-institutionally, but a digital birth certificate is mandatory for Aadhaar enrollment, effectively excluding many from public services. Similarly, in the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), attendance recording issues due to the lack of smartphones and mobile recharge costs often lead to workers losing their wages, highlighting the disconnect between digital governance and on-the-ground realities. “Far from what they need, BharatNet is just an attempt to justify digitalisation,” Buddha said.

In education, government data show that only 24% of government schools have access to the internet. As per a report, this has left rural students unable to use online learning platforms, a problem that was especially severe during the Covid-19 pandemic when schools moved to digital learning.

In healthcare, poor internet access has slowed the adoption of digital health initiatives. As per this December 2024 report, health workers in Haryana had to use both paper-based and digital records because of unreliable internet and a lack of smartphones. This not only increased their workload but also made it harder to provide timely healthcare services.

The digital ecosystem which was planned for facilities like digital consultation, consent of patients in letting medical practitioners access their records, and telemedicine under Ayushman Bharat are still not accessible to all, Maheswari said.

One of the major challenges BharatNet faces is the lack of awareness and accessibility among users. While the network aims to provide connectivity, its real impact depends on whether people have the devices and the digital literacy and awareness to utilise available services.

A demand-side subsidy approach, including device support and telecom vouchers, can enhance adoption and bridge the digital divide, experts said.

We have reached out to Neeraj Mittal, Chairman of the Digital Communications Commission and telecom secretary, Devendra Kumar Rai, the Joint Secretary in the telecom ministry, and Ravi A. Robert Jerard, Chairman and Managing Director of BBNL on February 3, 2025. We will update the story when we receive a response.

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