BIHAR-GOV-010
BharatNet in Bihar
The national rural broadband network connecting gram panchayats with optical fibre. In Bihar it has made 8,340 gram panchayats service-ready and is adding FTTH connections to schools and health centres under the Amended BharatNet Programme.
Reported figures (4)
Each figure is marked as an official statistic, a government claim or a target
| Measure | Figure | As of | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gram panchayats made service-ready for broadband | 8,340 gram panchayats | Official statistic | Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 2057 | |
Government secondary schools with FTTH under BharatNet | 1,726 schools | Official statistic | Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 3973 | |
Primary Health Centres with FTTH under BharatNet | 190 PHCs | Official statistic | Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 3973 | |
Funds disbursed for BharatNet in Bihar | ₹ 2,116.03 Cr | Official statistic | Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 3973 |
How it unfolded (7)
Each step as a dated source records it, oldest first
- Programme initiated
Field work commenced, the Department of Telecommunications having attributed the earlier period to survey and pilot testing.
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Starred Q. 53
- Programme initiated
BharatNet Phase I, covering one lakh gram panchayats nationally, was completed.
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 273
- Pilot
A Bihar-only pilot began, running overhead optical fibre from gram panchayats into villages through the CSC special purpose vehicle.
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 2974
- Programme initiated
The Union Cabinet extended the programme's scope beyond gram panchayats to all inhabited villages.
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 618
- Programme initiated
The Amended BharatNet Programme was approved, with ring topology and ten-year operation and maintenance.
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 537
- Operational
Bihar reached 8,340 gram panchayats connected, the level it has held since.
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 320
- Operational
Bihar had 1,726 government secondary schools and 190 primary health centres on FTTH, with 1,200 gram panchayats upgraded under the amended programme.
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 3973 · Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 537
What's confirmed
6 sourced facts
- Under BharatNet, 8,340 gram panchayats in Bihar have been made service-ready (Lok Sabha, 11 February 2026).
- As of 30 June 2026, 1,726 government secondary schools and 190 PHCs in Bihar had FTTH connections under BharatNet.
- Rs 2,116.03 crore has been disbursed for BharatNet in Bihar (Lok Sabha, 12 August 2026).
- The Amended BharatNet Programme is being implemented to upgrade the existing network, with a national provision of 1.5 crore FTTH connections.
- Bihar's gram panchayat connections by March each year, from a single Lok Sabha annexure: none to 2015, then 204 (2016), 416 (2017), 4,692 (2018), 5,525 (2019), 7,961 (2020), 8,293 (2021), 8,307 (2022), 8,316 (2023) and 8,340 (2024), unchanged to end-October 2024.
- Funds released for Bihar rose from Rs 715.71 crore since inception (February 2020) to Rs 1,350.86 crore (31 December 2021) and Rs 2,116.03 crore (12 August 2026).
Still to be confirmed
4 open questions
- Share of the service-ready gram panchayats that have active, working connectivity or uptime.
- Bihar-specific completion timeline for the Amended BharatNet Programme. DoT reports only the 1,200 gram panchayats upgraded to June 2026.
- Three Department of Telecommunications replies give three different Bihar disbursement figures for the same years: 2017-18 appears as Rs 22.54 crore, Rs 45.23 crore and Rs 45 crore, and 2018-19 as Rs 48.37 crore, Rs 102.51 crore and Rs 182 crore. We record all three rather than choosing.
- The planned gram panchayat denominator also moves between replies (8,366 in February 2020, 8,963 in January 2021, 8,404 in February 2022, 8,340 in June 2024), so the completion percentages in different answers are not comparable.
Sources (11)
Who reported it, when, and what they cover
| Publisher | Published | Covers | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 2057 Parliament |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 3973 Parliament |
| Open source (opens in a new tab) | |
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Starred Q. 53 Parliament |
| No public link | |
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 273 Parliament |
| No public link | |
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 2974 Parliament |
| No public link | |
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 618 Parliament |
| No public link | |
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 537 Parliament |
| No public link | |
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 320 Parliament |
| No public link | |
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 3316 Parliament |
| No public link | |
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 2556 Parliament |
| No public link | |
Lok Sabha (Department of Telecommunications), Unstarred Q. 2144 Parliament |
| No public link |