State-owned service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has awarded two additional contracts under the third phase of the BharatNet programme, as India accelerates efforts to complete the long-running village connectivity initiative.
The contracts have been awarded to state-run Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) and Pratap Technocrats Private Limited (PTPL), following the completion of financial evaluations. Both firms emerged as the lowest bidders for the remaining four packages under BharatNet Phase-3.
PTPL, which positions itself as a project management service provider specialising in tower and fibre infrastructure across urban and rural India, secured three packages covering Rajasthan, Haryana and Assam. TCIL won the fourth package, which includes the northeastern states of Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya.
BharatNet, one of the world’s largest rural broadband programmes, was launched in 2011 with the objective of connecting around 600,000 villages across India through an extensive optical fibre network. Despite its scale and ambition, the project has missed multiple deadlines over the years due to execution challenges, coordination issues and changes in implementation strategy.
With Phase-3 now under way, BSNL is looking to bring the programme to completion and digitally connect the remaining villages by the end of 2028. The latest contract awards mark another step in what is expected to be the final phase of the project, aimed at narrowing India’s persistent digital divide, particularly in remote and underserved regions.
Last week, TCIL had already secured a BharatNet Phase-3 package covering Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya, underscoring the strong role of public sector entities in the rollout. PTPL’s success across three geographically diverse packages highlights the increasing participation of specialised private players in managing large-scale fibre deployments.
As part of the BharatNet project, close to 280,000 village blocks are currently service-ready, with more than 4.2 million kilometres of optical fibre cable already laid under the programme.
Once completed, BharatNet is expected to provide the backbone for a wide range of digital services in rural India, including broadband access, e-governance, telemedicine, online education and digital financial services. For BSNL, the successful execution of Phase-3 is also seen as critical to strengthening its role in India’s national digital infrastructure strategy.
