On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will commission more than 97,500 BSNL mobile 4G towers across India, alongside unveiling the state-owned operator’s indigenous 4G stack. Built at a cost of Rs 37,000 crore, the rollout represents a landmark in India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat vision for telecom self-reliance.
The inauguration will take place during the PM’s visit to Jharsuguda, Odisha, officials confirmed on Friday.
Madhya Pradesh gets 4,679 new towers
Of the 97,500 towers being switched on nationwide, 4,679 are in Madhya Pradesh, covering both rural and urban areas.
According to BSNL MP circle chief general manager Mithilesh Kumar, 1,223 sites have already been deployed under the Digital Bharat Nidhi Scheme, bringing mobile coverage to 1,656 previously unserved villages. Another 247 towers are under installation and will be completed by March 2026.
Connecting villages with fiber and 4G
Madhya Pradesh is also seeing massive expansion under the BharatNet Project. BSNL is laying 65,509 km of optical fiber cable to provide high-speed internet access to 22,858 gram panchayats, including some of the remotest villages.
Currently, BSNL serves nearly 29.3 lakh mobile subscribers, 1.26 lakh Fibre-to-the-Home customers, and operates 13,571 leased lines for institutions across the state.
Free SIM upgrades, green telecom push
BSNL has urged customers still on 2G or 3G SIMs to upgrade to free 4G SIM cards available at customer service centres and authorised retailers.
Notably, many of the new towers are solar-powered, making the rollout a step toward green telecom infrastructure.
Built in India, built for the future
The indigenous 4G stack is the result of collaboration between C-DOT (core technology), Tejas Networks (radio access), and TCS (system integration). Entirely developed in India, the system is also software-upgradable to 5G, ensuring future readiness.
BSNL officials said this places India among a select league of countries such as Denmark, Sweden, South Korea, and China that manufacture homegrown telecom equipment.
Digital Bharat, Atmanirbhar Bharat
So far, 18,900 towers under the Digital Bharat Nidhi have already been installed, including 14,180 by BSNL. Together, they’ve brought mobile connectivity to 26,700 uncovered villages, benefiting over 20 lakh citizens in remote, border, and Left-wing extremism-affected regions.
As BSNL celebrates its silver jubilee year, the indigenous 4G rollout isn’t just about technology, it’s a symbol of India’s digital sovereignty.
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