New Delhi: BharatNet, the Indian government’s ambitious rural broadband connectivity programme, is struggling to keep pace with less than half the number of connections targeted until March 2026 actually using it. New customer additions also saw a steady decline over the last three years, according to a report by The Indian Express based on a response to query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.A total of 13,22,842 fixed connections were commissioned under BharatNet as of March, the report stated, as opposed to the initial target of 18 lakh. Of them, however, only about 8.01 lakh connections were actively being used, per the RTI data.Government officials told the daily that the scheme was faltering on various parameters, with active connections, in-use Wi-Fi hotspots, last-mile connectivity, funds leakages and confusing tariff structures.The ambitious national initiative was started in 2011 by state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) with a vision for connecting rural India with fibre-optic internet, through the creation of the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN). Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) was created in 2012 as a Special Purpose Vehicle for execution of NOFN. In June 2009, then President Pratibha Patil had announced the government’s plan to extend fiber connectivity to every gram panchayat.During its launch, it was pegged as the world’s largest rural fibre optic network. It was aimed to be the government’s flagship rural broadband initiative that would bridge the digital divide by providing high-speed internet to all gram panchayats, connecting remote communities to digital public services, education, healthcare and entrepreneurial opportunities.However, this is not the first time this flagship internet service has come under scrutiny. Also read: Why BharatNet Remains an Unfinished DreamIn 2020, reports stated that the panchayat internet connectivity scheme was floundering at the last mile due to the failure of the implementation agencies, and that the DoT had been looking to bring in the private sector to complete the pending projects under phases 1 and 2 of BharatNet.In 2021, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) had, in a preliminary report, pulled up the Common Service Centre (CSC) for the poor quality of Internet services under the BharatNet initiative despite large payments. Economic Times, citing the CAG report, had stated that the maintenance of cable and other infrastructure was not adequate in various circles, resulting in poor quality of services.According to a 2024 study by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), a New Delhi-based think tank, a major challenge was that the programme assumed that existing telecom providers would handle last-mile connectivity. However, rural areas lacked such providers, forcing a shift from middle-mile – connecting gram panchayats to the main fibre network – to last-mile connectivity, which means that internet connections have to reach homes. Despite the project later adopting a ring topology, providing more than one pathway to connect a single village for better network stability, the issues persisted.Poor planning and a lack of accountability systems have also contributed to delays.Per The Indian Express, a March 2025 report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communication and Information Technology stated there were 12.24 lakh fixed broadband connections provided under BharatNet until January 2025. “Tallied with the numbers obtained by this paper through the RTI, it means that only around 98,842 new connections were added in the next 14 months until March 2026 (to take the number to 13.23 lakh), which is just a little over 7,000 new connections per month. But it is the active usage of the service where the scope of the project is faltering further, an official said,” the daily reported.Earlier this month, Economic Times reported that the third phase of the BharatNet initiative, which had a deadline of 2025, and for which the cabinet had approved a Rs 65,000 crore middle-mile network in August 2023, was facing disruptions in the face of the ongoing West Asia crisis. The increasing cost of optical fibre cable and routers, in particular, is said to have forced vendors to seek force majeure from the telecom department (DoT) to counter the supply chain constraints.