Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) are offering existing fixed-line customers 256 kilobytes per second (kbps) broadband connections for 500 rupees (11 dollars) a month, much less than the existing 1,500 rupee offer.

"We have been slow to adopt new technologies in the television and even Internet sphere but in a way this will now work in our favour," Information Technology and Communication Minister Dayanidhi Maran told a press conference.

"The need of the hour is high-speed Internet and our state-run communications firms will provide the service for voice, data transmission and video at a minimum speed of 256 kilobytes per second and up to the highest speed of 20 megabytes per second," Maran added.