Around 25,000 villages – currently without telecom and mobile internet connectivity – will be brought on-stream by mid-2025 to ensure full “saturation” in the country, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Telecom Minister, said on Wednesday.
Also on course are plans to roll out India’s first Indigenous 4G stack “by the middle of next year”, which will allow state-run BSNL to introduce 4G services.
BSNL will be using an indigenous 4G stack developed by TCS and C-DoT to provide 4G services in India.
“A total of 450,000 towers have been erected nationwide, but some villages remain unconnected. We have committed to putting up close to 20,000 towers and a sum of ₹45,000 crore towards that initiative by mid-2025,” Scindia said during the 51st National Management Convention of the All India Management Association (AIMA).
Northeast India has the most unconnected villages, approximately 6,000. According to the Minister, nearly “half of these villages have been already connected.”
The Ministry will also push for indigenous telecom equipment production, while there will be a concerted push towards new technologies.
India produces mobile phones as part of the Bharat 6G Alliance, and the government has targeted the country to hold 10 per cent of international patents in the sector, the Minister said.