Government to Provide Broadband to Rural Schools and Health Centres under BharatNet

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.

Also Read: Bharat Offers One of the Cheapest Mobile Data Rates Globally: DoT

“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.