THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

NEW DELHI, JULY 23, 2026

The government has taken a series of measures to strengthen the country's telecommunications and digital communication infrastructure, including expanding 5G services, enhancing mobile networks and improving broadband connectivity in rural and remote areas, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

In a written reply to a question in the Upper House, Union Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said the government has introduced policy reforms and implemented infrastructure projects to accelerate telecom expansion across the country.

He said a centralized Right of Way (RoW) portal, launched on May 14, 2022, has streamlined permissions for laying optical fibre cables and installing telecom towers. The government has also notified the Telecommunications (Right of Way) Rules, 2024, under the Telecommunications Act, 2023, to simplify approvals and standardise applicable charges for faster deployment of telecom infrastructure.

The minister said broadband connectivity is being expanded through the BharatNet project covering Gram Panchayats and villages, while the 4G Saturation Scheme aims to provide mobile coverage in all uncovered villages.

Under the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN)-funded 4G Saturation Project and other mobile connectivity initiatives, around 24,000 mobile towers had been commissioned across the country till June 2026, he added.

Pemmasani said 5G services have now been rolled out in all states and Union Territories and are available in 99.9 per cent of the country's districts.

The number of 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) increased from 1,40,623 as on March 31, 2023, to 5,62,971 as on June 30, 2026, during the last three years, he said.

The minister said the government had released the Bharat 6G Vision Document in March 2023 to promote the design, development and deployment of 6G technologies with the objective of positioning India as a global leader in the sector.

As on June 30, 2026, a total of 136 research and development projects had been approved under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme with sanctioned funding of nearly Rs 543 crore, covering frontier technologies such as 6G, quantum communication, satellite and non-terrestrial networks, optical systems, indigenous 5G core and telecom security.

Pemmasani also said the Department of Telecommunications had notified the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme on February 24, 2021, with an outlay of Rs 12,195 crore to boost domestic manufacturing of telecom and networking products by incentivising incremental investments and sales.