SRINAGAR: The Centre on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha that 295 Gram Panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir have been upgraded under the Amended BharatNet Programme, with 930 km of optical fibre cable laid in the Union Territory to expand high-speed broadband connectivity.
In a written reply to an unstarred question, Minister of State for Communications Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said the Amended BharatNet Programme aims to upgrade the existing broadband network, extend connectivity to new Gram Panchayats and provide fibre-based internet access to rural areas across the country.
As of June 30, 2026, Jammu and Kashmir, which has 4,299 Gram Panchayats, had recorded the laying of 930 km of optical fibre cable and the upgradation of 295 Gram Panchayats under the programme.
The minister said the Government has also approved the expansion of BharatNet to connect non-Gram Panchayat villages on demand, ensure operation and maintenance of the network, and facilitate the provision of 1.5 crore fibre internet connections across the country.
Nationwide, 43,908 km of optical fibre cable had been laid and 13,494 Gram Panchayats upgraded under the Amended BharatNet Programme by the end of June 2026.
The Centre further informed that under the 4G Saturation Project and other Government-funded mobile connectivity initiatives, 24,812 mobile towers had been commissioned across the country, extending mobile services to 35,050 villages in rural and remote areas.
The Government said BharatNet remains its flagship programme to provide reliable high-speed broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats, with the objective of promoting digital inclusion, e-governance, online education, telemedicine and rural entrepreneurship.
