Union Budget 2022: Broadband, Mobile Data In Rural Areas To Get Major Push

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Budget 2022 focused on increasing manufacturing and growing the country’s digital infrastructure that includes everything from agriculture, to education, to health and other industries. With digitisation a major focus in today’s budget, the Finance Minister also said that the government will enhance broadband and mobile services in rural and remote areas of the country, and will lay optical fiber lines across the country in all villages and remote areas.

While presenting the budget, FM Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government will allocate 5 percent of the annual collections under the universal service obligations fund to enable broadband and mobile services in the rural and remote areas of the country. The finance minister said that this step will provide and promote research and development, and commercialisation of technology and solutions. “Our vision is that all villages and their residents should have the same access to e-services, communication facilities, and digital resources as urban areas and their residents,” Sitharaman said.