All 6 lakh villages in India to be connected with optical fibre in the next 1,000 days: PM Modi

Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced that the task to connect India's over six lakh villages with optical fibre network will be completed in the next 1,000 days.

Besides, high-speed internet connectivity via submarine optical fibre cable will be expanded to Lakshadweep in this period, he said.

While addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on India's 74th Independence Day, PM Modi mentioned that only five dozen panchayats in the country were connected with optical fibre cable before 2014.

The prime minister also declared a new policy on cybersecurity to be unveiled shortly amid threats stemming from cyberspace.

He said the country is seeing an expansion of roads and the internet at unparalleled and rapid speed, from the peaks of the Himalayas to islands in the Indian Ocean.

PM Modi said that in the last five years, 1.5 lakh village panchayats have been connected with optical fibre cable.

He further added, "In the next 1,000 days, all villages in the country will be connected with optical fibre." He also said that Lakshadweep too would be connected with submarine optical fibre cable in the next 1,000 days.

Modi recently inaugurated the first-ever undersea optical fibre cable project for Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which will provide high-speed broadband connections in the union territory at par with services in the mainland.

The prime minister had laid the foundation for 2,312-kilometre Chennai - Andaman and Nicobar Islands (CANI) connecting submarine optical fibre cable project on December 30, 2018.

PM Modi also said that the importance of the digital India mission has been realised during the COVID-19 pandemic. "In the last month only, transactions worth about Rs 3 lakh crore took place through BHIM UPI alone," he said.