The Government has taken key steps to strengthen telecommunications and digital communication infrastructure including expansion of 5G, enhancement of mobile networks and broadband connectivity in rural and remote areas as follows:
Launch of centralized Right of Way (RoW) portal on May 14, 2022, thus facilitating the streamlining of the RoW permissions for the deployment of telecom infrastructure viz. optical fiber cable (OFC) laying and telecom tower installation.
Issuance of Telecommunications (Right of Way) Rules, 2024 (“RoW Rules”) under ‘The Telecommunications Act, 2023’ to streamline the RoW permissions and applicable charges for expediting the telecom infrastructure deployment in the country.
BharatNet project for providing broadband connectivity in Gram Panchayats (GPs) and villages.
4G Saturation scheme to provide 4G mobile coverage in all uncovered villages.Under Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) funded 4G Saturation Project and other Mobile projects, till June 2026, around 24,000 mobile towers have been commissioned across the country.
Further, 5G services have been rolled out in all States/ UTs across the country and presently it is available in 99.9% of the districts in the country. During the last three years, number of 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) across the country have increased from 1,40,623 as on 31.03.2023 to 5,62,971 as on 30.06.2026.
Government has released Bharat 6G Vision Document in March 2023 with the objectives to design, develop and deploy 6G technologies that provide ubiquitous intelligent and secure connectivity for high quality living experience for the world to position India as a global leader in 6G technology.
As on 30.06.2026, 136 R&D projects have been approved under Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme with sanctioned funding of nearly ₹543 crores . These projects cover frontier areas including 6G, quantum communication, satellite and non-terrestrial networks, optical systems, indigenous 5G core, and telecom security.
Further, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has notified the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme on 24.2.2021 with an outlay of ₹12,195 crores to boost domestic manufacturing of telecom and networking products in India by incentivising incremental investments and sales.
This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.
