India is planning a really large project to help more than 3,60,000 villages with broadband and other facilities. This will require a high amount of funds. The Union Cabinet recently gave its nod to the revised strategy of the BharatNet project. A public-private partnership model will help around 3,60,000 villages. This project is said to cost Rs 29,430 crore. The government will help by providing Rs 19,041 crore as viability gap funding.

According to the project details, this is an initiative to help gram panchayats of the country by providing them broadband services. The project will be carried out in two stages. In the first stage, BharatNet will look into expanding further than the gram panchayats (GPs). The second stage will focus on upgradation and maintenance.

In an effort to fulfil the ‘Digital India’ dreams, the centre has taken another step forward. Back in August 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared that the government is planning to bring broadband connectivity to more than 6 lakh villages. Till now, over 2.5 lakh village panchayats have been covered. Other villages will be getting it soon.

The project will require a lot of funds. In addition to the Rs 42,068 crore allocation back in 2017, the government will be putting Rs 19,041 crore more. The total has now become Rs 61,109 crore. These funds are coming from the Telecom operators as well as they give 5% of their adjusted gross revenue to the USO fund.

As per the revised plan, states including Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and West Bengal will be covered.

For the BharatNet project to carry at a good pace, the PPP model has been applied. This will help in upgradation, maintenance and revenue generation.