From Digital Divide to Intelligent Villages: BharatNet's Rural Revolution Accelerates

India's rural regions, home to over 900 million residents and the foundation of the agrarian economy, have long faced a persistent digital divide. This disparity constrains economic growth and restricts access to critical services, sustaining inequalities in education, healthcare, and governance. As of early 2026, the Amended BharatNet Program—Phase III in particular—functions as a strategic enabler for deploying high-speed broadband in remote areas. Led by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India, and executed by many public sector undertakings such as ITI Limited & various Private Sector Enterprises, this initiative extends beyond infrastructure rollout; it serves as a key driver for societal advancement, facilitating the evolution of villages into intelligent and empowered ecosystems.

Rural India's digital lag remains glaring: only 30.4% of villages (1.99 lakh out of 6.5 lakh) had broadband as of January 2025, hobbling e-governance, skills training, and markets.

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BharatNet Phase III, approved in August 2023 with Rs 1.39 lakh crore allocation and led by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) with PSUs like ITI Limited and private partners, flips the script. It upgrades middle-mile networks, rolls out FTTH to 1.5 crore households, and saturates 24,680 villages with 4G/5G.

Milestones abound. According to the DoT data, by December 2025, 2.14 lakh Gram Panchayats were service-ready, backed by 6.95 lakh km of optical fiber. FTTH connections hit 13.93 lakh (up from 11.74 lakh in December 2024), with monthly data consumption exploding to 1.65 lakh TB and per capita usage at 21.10 GB. Rural internet subscribers ballooned from 115 million in FY16 to 405.33 million by September 2024—official DoT and National Broadband Mission data that signals inclusive momentum.

Tech Backbone for Societal Leapfrog

BharatNet Phase III's Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON), now enhanced with MPLS-based ring architecture for 99% reliability, delivers scalable 100 Mbps bandwidth primed for 5G. This isn't mere pipes—it's the foundation for low-latency (<10 ms) IoT, edge AI, and network slicing under DoT's Intelligent Villages Initiative, launched in June 2024.

In Jharkhand, PMGDISHA hotspots have skilled 6.39 crore people, with 78.4% of rural youth digitally literate; virtual classrooms boosted enrollment 15%. Similarly, in healthcare, Chhattisgarh's primary health centers (PHCs) now conduct 5,000 telemedicine consultations annually, reducing emergency referrals by 25% and delivering specialist care to isolated families—saving time, costs, and lives.

Maharashtra's Ralegan Siddhi pilot, part of a 3,500-village push by 2030, cut irrigation waste 30% via FTTH-powered sensors, lifting crop yields 15-20%.

Economic Firepower and Governance Gains

Economics ignite too. Rajasthan's 50,000 farmers tap e-Krishi apps for 15% cost cuts, injecting ₹50,000 crore into rural e-commerce yearly. Tamil Nadu's women SHGs sell handicrafts globally, fostering self-reliance. e-Panchayat portals hit 90% scheme delivery, with 94.2% rural households mobile-enabled for direct benefits.

The following table encapsulates verifiable social achievements:

Tackling Hurdles, Eyes on 2027

Challenges linger—60% adoption hobbled by literacy and power woes—but solar nodes trim downtime 15%, and state committees push fixes. Tejas Networks' December 2025 routing wins and BSNL's northeast contracts signal momentum toward universal coverage by 2027. For IT/ITeS, it's a goldmine: Atmanirbhar Bharat beckons indigenous AI and edge tech, promising 3:1 ROI per the 2025 Economic Survey.

BharatNet Phase III isn't infrastructure—it's rural India's renaissance engine, affirming connectivity as a right. As villages morph into smart hubs, India's public-sector resolve unlocks Viksit Bharat's promise.

(The author Arun Kumar Singh is currently working with a Govt of India undertaking ITI Limited as DGM. Views expressed here are author's own)

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