1,921 Odisha Villages Still Without Mobile Connectivity: Centre

Bhubaneswar: Despite considerable progress in expanding telecom infrastructure, 1,921 villages in Odisha remain without mobile network coverage, the Ministry of Communications informed the Rajya Sabha.

Responding to a question by MP Manas Ranjan Mangaraj on Thursday, Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Dr. Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said Odisha has 51,176 villages, of which 49,255 have mobile coverage. Among these, 48,490 villages enjoy 4G connectivity.

In tribal areas, 18,302 out of 19,519 villages are connected to mobile networks. Coverage in the remaining inhabited villages is being expanded based on the techno-commercial viability of telecom service providers (TSPs), both public and private.

Currently, Odisha has 98,848 operational Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), including 88,360 set up by private operators and 10,488 by BSNL. Under the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) scheme, the Centre has commissioned 3,113 mobile towers across the state as of June 2025, covering 4,491 villages.

The government has disbursed ₹3,934 crore to Odisha under various DBN initiatives to enhance telecom connectivity in rural, remote, and tribal areas. However, no fixed timeline has been provided for achieving 100% mobile coverage, with officials indicating a phased approach involving both public funding and private sector participation.