India, Sept. 10 -- The Centre has approved Rs 1,684 crore in financial support for the rollout of the Amended BharatNet Programme (ABP) in Jharkhand, with the project set to upgrade connectivity infrastructure across 4,395 Gram Panchayats (GPs) and provide on-demand broadband connectivity to 26,777 villages.

The implementation agreement for the state-led rollout was signed on 10 September between Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the Government of Jharkhand, Jharkhand Digital Infrastructure Corporation (JDICL), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Jharkhand Communication Network (JCNL).

The project moves Jharkhand's BharatNet expansion into a state-led implementation model, with JDICL servin...