The Minister for Communications informed that based on information provided by TRAI, as on March 31, 2017 there were 422.2 mn broadband users in India and internet penetration was at 32.9%.
The National Telecom Policy 2012 aims to have 600 mn broadband connections by 2020. Under the BharatNet project, the government aims to provide 100 Mbps broadband connectivity to 0.25 mn village administrations (Gram Panchayat) by March 2019. As on July 23, 2017, optical fiber cables has been laid in 0.1 mn gram panchayats and broadband connectivity has been provided in 25, 426 gram panchayats
