Optical Fibre network across all village panchayats by the end of 2016

                           

The government has laid down 90,000 km of optical fibre network for high-speed broadband connection, covering about 68,000 village Panchayats till date, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said. 

"We are connecting about 2.5 lakh village Panchayats. We have made it BharatNet. Only 2,000 km (of OFC) was laid under the previous government. 

"In last 14 months, we have covered nearly 90 thousand kilometers, including about 68 thousand Panchayats," he said at India Economic Convention 2015. 

The project was started at the time of UPA government but could not be completed during their tenure. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government has set a deadline to complete roll out of optical fibre network across all village Panchayats by the end of 2016.

The Modi government has remodelled the project as BharatNet. The new models proposed under BharatNet will be implemented after cabinet approves it.