(GIST OF YOJANA) India’s Digital Decade

GIST OF YOJANA : India’s Digital Decade

JULY-2025

India’s Digital Decade

Context:

India’s journey towards becoming a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. From expanding internet access in remote villages to revolutionising public service delivery through digital platforms, the country has bridged the urban-rural divide like never before. The digital economy, which contributed 11.74% to the national income in 2022-23, is projected to grow to 13.42% by 2024-25, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital infrastructure.

Connectivity and Infrastructure

A robust digital infrastructure forms the backbone of a modern economy. India has significantly expanded mobile networks and improved internet connectivity in rural areas.

Telecom and Internet Penetration

Total telephone connections in India grew from 93.3 crores in March 2014 to 120+ crores in April 2025.
The overall tele-density in India which was 75.23 % in March 2014 rose to 84.49% in October 2024.
Urban telephone connections rose to 661.36 million in October 2024 as compared to 555.23 million in March 2014 while rural telephone connections increased from 377.78 million in March 2014 to 527.34 million in October 2024.

Internet and Broadband Penetration

Internet connections jumped from 25.15 crore in March 2014 to 96.96 crore in June 2024, registering a growth of 285.53%.
Broadband connections rose from 6.1 crore in March, 2014 to 94.92 crore in August, 2024 growing by 1452%.
Out of 6,44,131 villages, 6,15,836 villages have 4G mobile connectivity in the country, as of December 2024.

5G and Connectivity

Since 2016, the rapid expansion of 4G coverage brought high-speed connectivity to every corner of the country. Building on this momentum, the launch of 5G in October 2022 further accelerated India’s digital journey, enabling even faster and smarter services. In just 22 months, India set up 4.74 lakh 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs). As of now, 5G services cover 99.6% of the country’s districts, with 2.95 lakh BTSs installed in 2023-24 alone. This leap in infrastructure supports a mobile subscriber base of 116 crore in 2025, highlighting the scale and reach of India’s digital surge.

This improved mobile infrastructure has driven a massive surge in internet access. At the same time, the cost of wireless data has fallen steeply, from Rs 308 per GB in 2014 to just Rs 9.34 in 2022, making digital services far more affordable.

BharatNet: Linking Villages to the Internet

A major part of this digital push has been about connecting rural India. As of January 2025, the BharatNet project has brought high-speed internet to over 2.18 lakh Gram Panchayats. Nearly 6.92 lakh km of optical fibre cable has been laid under the initiative. Villages that once lacked basic internet access now have digital tools at their doorstep.

Digital Finance and Inclusion

Technology has brought financial services closer to people, especially in rural and remote areas.

UPI: Digital Payment Boom

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI] transformed digital transactions across the country. In April 2025, over 1,867.7 crore transactions worth Rs 24.77 lakh crore were carried out using UPI in just one month. The (UPI] system is now used by close to 460 million individuals and 65 million merchants. According to the ACI Worldwide Report 2024, India accounted for 49% of global real-time transactions in 2023, reaffirming its position as a global leader in digital payments innovation.
UPI is now live in over seven countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, Mauritius, making India a global trailblazer in digital payments. Its growing international adoption is boosting remittances, promoting financial inclusion, and strengthening India’s position in the global fintech landscape.

Aadhaar: Building Trust with Technology

The Aadhaar-based e-KYC system has helped simplify processes in both banking and public services. It made verification faster, reduced paperwork, and brought transparency across sectors. As of April 2025, 141.88 crore Aadhaar IDs have been generated. Aadhaar has now become a crucial part of India’s digital backbone, helping people access services with ease.

Direct Benefits Transfer:

A Cleaner Welfare System Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT], supported by Aadhaar authentication, changed the way subsidies and welfare payments are delivered. It helped remove fake beneficiaries and saved the government more than Rs 3.48 lakh crore between 2015 and March 2023. As of May 2025, the total cumulative amount transferred through DBT has crossed Rs 44 lakh crore. People now receive what is rightfully theirs, directly and on time.
The system has also helped clean up beneficiary databases. Over 5.87 crore ineligible ration card holders have been removed, and 4.23 crore duplicate or fake LPG connections have been cancelled, making the welfare system more targeted and transparent.

Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)

Launched in 2022, The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a transformative initiative aimed at democratising digital commerce. It envisions creating a level playing field for sellers, buyers, and service providers across India, particularly small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Key Achievements

As of January 2025, the sellers and service providers are spread across 616+ cities expanding the geographical coverage of the ONDC network.
As of January 2025, there are more than 7.6-1 lakh sellers/service providers registered on the ONDC platform.

Government e-Mnrketplace (GeM)

Launched in 2016, Government e Marketplace (GeM). created in a record time of five months, facilitates online procurement of common use Goods and Sendees required by various Government Departments / Organisations / PSUs.

Key Achievements:

As of January, 2025, GeM has clocked a GMV of Rs 4.09 lakh crore within 10 months of the current Fiscal Year 2024-25, which marks a growth of nearly 50% over the corresponding period last FY.
GeM has a network of 1.6 lakh+ government buyers and over 22.5 lakh sellers and service providers.

DigiLocker

Launched in 2015, DigiLocker alms at ‘Digital Empowerment’ of citizen by providing access to authentic digital documents to citizen’s digital document wallet. DlgiLocker users as of April 2025 reached to a significant number of 51.6 crores.

Key Achievements

From January 2025 to June 11, 2025, a total of 9.42 crore users signed up, including 33.06 lakh sign-ups in the month of June alone.
2031.99 lakh yearly user signups recorded in 2024 as compared to 9.90 lakh signups recorded in 2015.

UMANG

Launched in 2017, UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) is developed to drive Mobile Governance in India. UMANG provides a single platform for all Indian Citizens to access pan India e-Gov services ranging from Central to Local Government bodies.

Key Achievements

8.21 crore user registrations and 597 crore transactions recorded as of May 2025
2,300 government services are available on the UMANG portal In 23 Indian languages as of May 2025.

National Quantum Mission

With the broader aim to harness quantum technologies in India to bolster sectors like communication, cryptography, and computing, National Quantum Mission has outlined specific objectives to advance India’s capabilities in the quantum realm:

Quantum Computing Evolution: Develop intermediate-scale quantum computers with 20-50 physical qubits (3 years), 50-100 physical qubits (5 years), and 50-1000 physical qubits (8 years) across platforms like superconducting and photonic technologies to advance computational capabilities.
Satellite-Based Quantum Communication: Establish satellite-enahled quantum-secured communication between two ground stations over 2000 km within India and extend this technology for long-distance secure quantum communication with other countries.
Inter-City Quantum Key Distribution (QKD): Implement quantum-secured communication spanning 2000 km using trusted nodes and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) on existing optical fiber infrastructure, enhancing secure data transmission.
Multi-Node Quantum Networks: Develop a multi-node quantum network incorporating quantum memories, entanglement swapping, and synchronised quantum repeaters at each node, enabling scalable and robust quantum communication (2-3 nodes).
Advanced Quantum Sensing and Clocks: Design highly sensitive quantum devices including magnetometers with 1 femto-Tesla/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity in atomic systems and better than 1 pico-Tcsla/sqrt(Hz) in Nitrogen Vacancy centers, gravity sensors with better than 100 nano¬ meter/second2 sensitivity, and atomic clocks with 10 19 fractional instability for precision timing, navigation, and secure communication.
Quantum Materials and Devices: Develop and synthesise next-generation quantum materials such as superconductors, novel semiconductor structures, and topological materials for the fabrication of qubits, single-photon sources/ detectors, entangled photon sources, and quantum sensing/metrological devices for applications in computing and communication.

Conclusion:

India’s digital journey over the past decade has not only transformed services and governance hut also laid the groundwork for strong economic growth. Digital industries have been growing at a faster pace than traditional sectors, showing how technology is becoming a key driver of progress. By 2030, the digital economy is expected to make up nearly one-fifth of the country’s total economy. This shift highlights how digital advancements are helping create new opportunities, boost innovation, and make India a leader in the global digital landscape