Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy held a video conference with Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday, 27 May 2026, to discuss the deployment of T-Fiber internet to every village in the state under the Amended BharatNet Programme (ABP). The meeting focused on accelerating project agreements, releasing pending funds, and establishing a clear policy for transferring ring-network assets to the Digital Bharat Nidhi.

Context

In the post, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy wrote in Telugu: 'ప్రతి గ్రామానికి టీ-ఫైబర్ ఇంటర్నెట్ ను అమెండెడ్ భారత్ నెట్ కార్యక్రమం కింద అమలు చేయాలన్న అంశం పై' — meaning, 'on the subject of implementing T-Fiber internet for every village under the Amended BharatNet Programme.' He stated that he raised several key issues with Scindia, including the swift conclusion of the project agreement and the expedited release of pending funds. Scindia assured that the central government would extend full cooperation for the project's implementation.

The meeting was also attended by Telangana Minister Sridhar Babu, Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao, and other senior officials, signalling the state government's institutional commitment to the initiative.

Policy Backdrop

BharatNet, originally launched as the National Optical Fibre Network in 2011, is a central government scheme designed to connect rural gram panchayats with broadband optical fibre infrastructure. Phase II, approved in 2017, expanded the programme through state-led models and additional funding mechanisms, including public-private partnerships. The scheme has since evolved, with states adapting the framework to local network architectures.

T-Fiber is Telangana's state-level rural broadband initiative that seeks integration with the national BharatNet framework to extend last-mile internet connectivity to villages. A critical operational question discussed in Wednesday's meeting was the transfer of mandal-to-gram panchayat ring network assets — existing fibre infrastructure — to the Digital Bharat Nidhi, the central fund earmarked for sustaining and expanding digital infrastructure across India.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of a successful T-Fiber rollout under the Amended BharatNet Programme would be rural households and gram panchayats across Telangana, who stand to gain reliable, high-speed internet access. Improved rural connectivity is widely seen as foundational to digital delivery of government services, agricultural information, and economic opportunity in remote areas.

For the state government, securing a formal project agreement and unblocking pending central funds are prerequisites before physical network expansion can proceed at scale. The asset-transfer question to Digital Bharat Nidhi is particularly significant, as it determines the long-term ownership and maintenance responsibility for existing ring-network infrastructure built under earlier phases.

What's Next

The immediate focus will be on formalising the project agreement between Telangana and the Centre, a step that Revanth Reddy specifically flagged as requiring urgent attention. The release of pending funds under the Amended BharatNet Programme will be the next operational milestone, without which village-level deployment cannot be scaled. Scindia's stated assurance of full central cooperation will be tested against the pace at which these administrative and financial clearances materialise.

Progress on the asset-transfer policy to Digital Bharat Nidhi will also be closely watched, as it sets a precedent for how other states with similar ring-network investments coordinate with the central broadband framework. A successful Telangana model could inform the broader national rollout of the Amended BharatNet Programme.