Rural Haryanvis are more Internet savvy than their counterparts in Punjab. According to the official data of the Union Ministry of State for Communications and Rural Development, the Internet penetration in rural Haryana is pegged at 1.11 crore connections as compared to rural Punjab’s 96 lakh — a significant difference of 15 lakh connections as on March 1, 2025.Punjab loses 2 lakh subscribers• Haryana added 14 lakh Internet subscribers between 2023 and 2024, connection count dips in Punjab by 2 lakh• Rural Haryana has 1.11 crore connections as compared to Rural Punjab’s 96 lakh in March 2025• UP had the highest subscriber base of 6.5 crore, followed by Bihar (3.7 crore) and Maharashtra (3.1 crore) in 2025Over the past three years, Haryana has witnessed an impressive Internet growth — from over 85 lakh connections in 2023 to 99 lakh in 2024, while Punjab has only moved from 90 lakh connections to 98 lakh in the same period.While Haryana added nearly 14 lakh Internet subscribers between 2023 and 2024, surprisingly, Punjab witnessed a dip of nearly 2 lakh subscribers.These interesting details were provided by Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar while replying to a question in the Lok Sabha recently.As regards other parts of India, the rural Internet subscribers increased from 38 lakh connections in 2023 to 40 lakh connections in 2024 in Himachal Pradesh. For Jammu and Kashmir, the rural subscriber base was pegged at 42 lakh, 43 lakh and 45 lakh for 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively.Rajasthan also registered a steady increase in its Internet subscriber base — from 2.2 crore in 2023 to 2.5 crore in 2024 and 2.6 crore in 2025.India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, posted the most impressive growth, with the subscriber base increasing from 4.4 crore (2023) to 6.3 crore (2024) and 6.5 crore (2025). It was followed by Bihar — 3.2 crore in 2023 to 3.7 crore in 2024 and 2025. Maharashtra came next — 3.1 crore in 2023 and 3.3 crore in 2024; and registering a dip with 3.2 crore in 2025.Across India, the Internet connectivity in rural areas was pegged at 40 crore in 2025, up from 39 crore in 2024 and 35 crore in 2023.