Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has signed an addendum to the agreement for implementing the Amended BharatNet Programme (ABP) in Gujarat under the State-led model. The arrangement involves DBN, the Government of Gujarat, Gujarat Fibre Grid Network Limited (GFGNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
The development matters because BharatNet is the Union government's main rural broadband backbone programme. The Gujarat addendum translates the amended national framework into a state-specific implementation model aimed at stronger last-mile connectivity, network resilience and wider digital service access in rural areas.
What happened
The addendum was signed by Smt. P. Bharathi, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of Gujarat, and Shri Dinesh Kumar Garg, Deputy Director General (ABP Implementation-I), Department of Telecommunications, in the presence of Shri Shyamal Misra, Administrator, Digital Bharat Nidhi.
Senior officers of DoT, DBN and BSNL were present at the signing.
Background and earlier position
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