BSNL nears one lakh indigenous 4G sites as BharatNet expands reach

MUMBAI: The signal is getting stronger and so is India’s homegrown telecom story. From remote villages to border districts, BSNL’s indigenous 4G rollout is steadily replacing connectivity gaps with network bars.

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has brought its indigenous 4G rollout close to completion, with 97,174 of the 98,550 installed sites already operational against a target of one lakh sites, the government informed Parliament on Wednesday.

Responding to a starred question in the Lok Sabha, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia said the deployment forms a key part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative to build an indigenous telecom ecosystem.

The government said BSNL has installed 191 indigenous 4G sites in Odisha’s Nabarangpur Lok Sabha constituency under Phase IX.2 expansion and Digital Bharat Nidhi-funded projects. Of these, 103 have been commissioned under Phase IX.2, while 88 were deployed through Digital Bharat Nidhi schemes, including the 4G Saturation and Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-I projects.

The update also highlighted progress under the BharatNet programme, which aims to expand fibre connectivity across rural India. As of 30 June 2026, the amended programme had laid 43,908 km of optical fibre, upgraded 13,494 Gram Panchayats, and enabled 9,75,402 active fibre-based broadband connections nationwide.

Under mobile connectivity projects funded by Digital Bharat Nidhi, 23,426 of the planned 33,409 4G towers had been made operational by 30 June 2026, covering border regions and Left Wing Extremism-affected districts.

The government also outlined the financial backing behind BSNL’s revival. It said revival packages worth around Rs 3.18 lakh crore, including a sovereign guarantee of Rs 31,328 crore for long-term bonds, have been approved to strengthen the state-run operator, improve rural connectivity, lower operational costs and promote indigenous telecom technologies.

In Karnataka, BSNL has commissioned 5,375 4G sites under Phase IX.2, alongside 678 Digital Bharat Nidhi-funded sites. Dakshina Kannada district accounts for 239 Phase IX.2 sites and 89 Digital Bharat Nidhi-supported sites.

In Uttar Pradesh, BSNL has commissioned 6,910 4G sites, including 213 in the Meerut-Hapur Lok Sabha constituency. The state has also connected 4,010 Gram Panchayats under BharatNet, while around 700 rural broadband connections have been provided in the Meerut-Hapur constituency.

The figures underscore the government’s continued emphasis on expanding digital infrastructure as it seeks to bridge the rural-urban connectivity divide and accelerate broadband access across the country.