BharatNet project aims to deliver high-speed broadband to all 250,000-odd village panchayats in Rural India. Photo: Hemant Mishra/MintLast month, when the government kicked off the second phase of the BharatNet project, it marked another timeline reset by another government. The BharatNet project was launched in October 2011, with a targeted completion date of October 2013. As of November 2017, both cabling and gram panchayats being made service ready are at about 30%. Three large states—Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh—have over 40% of gram panchayats, and as of November, only about one-third of them were service-ready.

Source: Mint December 05, 2017 02:15 UTC