Digital Bharat Nidhi
Also called: DBN, Universal Service Obligation Fund, USOF · Topic: Infrastructure: Transport, Communications and Energy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) is the government fund that pays for telecom and broadband in places where companies will not build on their own, such as remote villages. It is the new name of the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), given under the Telecommunications Act 2023. That Act also repealed the Indian Telegraph Act 1885. A universal service obligation is the duty to make basic telecom available to everyone, including people in far-off areas. Telecom operators fund it through a USO levy of 5% of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR), which is the revenue figure on which their licence fee is charged. The levy is part of the 8% licence fee. DBN is an attached office of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), under the Ministry of Communications.
Example
Suppose an operator has an AGR of ₹1,000 crore. It pays a licence fee of 8%, which is ₹80 crore, and ₹50 crore of that (5%) is the USO levy that goes to the fund. DBN spends this money on schemes such as BharatNet, which takes optical fibre to gram panchayats, and the Amended BharatNet Program, which now also pays for rural homes to connect to that fibre.
Don't confuse with
- BharatNet: this is the rural optical-fibre network. DBN is the fund that pays for it, along with other schemes like mobile towers in remote areas.
- MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and IT): DBN does not come under MeitY. It comes under DoT, Ministry of Communications.
Recent developments
- July 2022: The Union Cabinet approved the 4G Saturation Project, costing ₹26,316 crore and paid for from this fund (then called USOF). "Saturation" means covering every remaining village that has no mobile service. Under the project, BSNL builds 4G sites in 24,680 uncovered villages using India's own 4G technology. The money covers building costs plus 5 years of running costs. This shows DBN pays for mobile towers too, not just BharatNet fibre.
- February 2026: A parliamentary committee found only about 61% of the planned 4G Saturation towers had been commissioned (built and switched on). The original target was December 2023. In border-outpost areas, only 42% were commissioned. Even with the money from this fund, the hardest areas are the slowest to connect, because of difficult terrain, security risks and forest clearances.
- 2026: The Standing Committee on Communications and IT reviewed DBN schemes. Independent audits had found coverage gaps, weak signal and duplicated towers (more than one tower built for the same area) in DBN's mobile projects. The committee recommended a state-wise performance audit and performance-linked incentives, meaning payment tied to how well towers actually work. This matters because the fund pays for towers to be built but does not check closely enough that they keep working.
- February 2026: The same review found only about 30% of gram panchayats had a functional BharatNet connection, and BharatNet funds had been underused since 2022-23. So spending from DBN has not automatically turned into connections people actually use.