The Centre will provide broadband connectivity to all government-run secondary schools and primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in rural areas through the BharatNet project, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.
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Broadband Expansion Through BharatNet
"Broadband connectivity will be provided to all Government secondary schools and primary health centres (PHCs) in rural areas under the Bharatnet project," Sitharaman said while presenting the Union Budget 2025-26 in the Parliament today.
BharatNet, approved by the Union Cabinet on October 25, 2011, is a project under the Ministry of Communications aimed at providing high-speed and affordable Internet access to every gram panchayat (village block) nationwide.
According to the Economic Survey report, as of December 2024, 6.92 lakh km of Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) has been laid, 2.14 lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) are service-ready (including 5,032 via satellite, 12.04 lakh Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) connections have been installed. Telecom infrastructure is being strengthened through the Bharat Net Project, extending broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats and villages.
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"To prevent classification disputes, I propose to reduce the BCD from 20 percent to 10 percent on Carrier Grade ethernet switches to make it at par with Non-Carrier Grade ethernet switches," she announced.
Centre of Excellence in AI for Education
Further, a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for artificial intelligence (AI) for the education sector will be set-up with an outlay of Rs 500 crore.
"I had announced three Centres of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for agriculture, health, and sustainable cities in 2023. Now a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for education will be set up with a total outlay of Rs 500 crore," Sitharaman said.
As part of investment in people, she announced that 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs will be set up in Government schools in next 5 years.
The Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme will be implemented to provide digital-form Indian language books for school and higher education.
"We propose to implement a Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme to provide digital-form Indian language books for school and higher education. This aims to help students understand their subjects better," she said.
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National Centres of Excellence for Skilling
"Five National Centres of Excellence for skilling will be set up with global expertise and partnerships to equip our youth with the skills required for "Make for India, Make for the World" manufacturing," Sitharaman said.
Research, Development and Innovation
Under the investment in Innovation, an allocation of Rs 20,000 crore has been announced to implement a private sector-driven Research, Development and Innovation initiative.
