Maharashtra signs Amended BharatNet pact; Centre approves Rs 10,520 crore
Digital Bharat Nidhi signed an agreement on 1 October 2026 with the Maharashtra government, MahaNet Digital Infrastructure Limited, BSNL and MahaIT to implement the Amended BharatNet Program in the State under the State-led model. The Centre has approved Rs 10,520 crore. It covers 28,237 gram panchayats and on-demand connectivity for 15,799 villages.
Syllabus: GS3 · Inclusive Growth; GS3 · Infrastructure; GS2 · Governance & e-Governance
Why it matters
A farmer checking crop prices, a student in an online class and a patient on a telemedicine call in a Maharashtra village all need a link that stays up. On a linear line, one cable cut can cut off every panchayat beyond it; a ring topology sends traffic the other way round. Fibre at the panchayat also lets local operators sell home connections, and the government expects over nine lakh in rural Maharashtra. The gap is wide: the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's yearly performance indicators put rural tele-density at 60.46% at the end of March 2026, against 151.47% in urban areas. Reliable rural broadband is what carries e-governance, digital payments and online learning to those homes.
Prelims pointers
- Digital Bharat Nidhi: the Universal Service Obligation Fund renamed by section 24 of the Telecommunications Act, 2023; an attached office of the Department of Telecommunications.
- Section 25: receipts go first to the Consolidated Fund of India; uses include universal service in underserved rural, remote and urban areas and telecom research and development.
- DBN Administration Rules, 2024: an Administrator picks Implementers by bidding, by application (research) or by nomination; funded networks must be shared on open, non-discriminatory terms.
- Telecommunications Act, 2023: section 60 provides for the repeal of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933.
- BharatNet: began as the National Optical Fibre Network (2011); its company, Bharat Broadband Network Limited, has merged with BSNL.
- Optical fibre works by total internal reflection: the core has a higher refractive index than the cladding, so light stays inside.
- Ring architecture with IP-MPLS: if one fibre path fails, data takes another route, keeping the panchayat online.
- BharatNet Udyami: a village entrepreneur, internet service provider or self-help group that provides and maintains last-mile home fibre connections.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to the Digital Bharat Nidhi, consider the following statements:
1. It is the Universal Service Obligation Fund renamed under the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
2. Sums received towards it are first credited to the Public Account of India.
3. Its balance does not lapse at the end of the financial year.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only
1 is correct: section 24 of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 makes the Universal Service Obligation Fund the Digital Bharat Nidhi. 2 is incorrect: under section 25 the money is first credited to the Consolidated Fund of India, not the Public Account, and reaches the Nidhi through Parliament's appropriation. 3 is correct: section 24 says the balance does not lapse at the end of the financial year.