Ministry of Electronics & IT press release · 18 March 2026 · pibtracker filter

Digital India program has enabled wider access to digital services and opportunities

PRID2241781 MinistryMinistry of Electronics & IT Released18 March 2026 Reading8 min

400% increase in broadband subscribers over a decade Posted On: 18 MAR 2026 4:04PM by PIB Delhi In line with Hon’ble Prime Minister's vision to democratize technology and empower citizens, the Government of India launched the Digital India programme in July 2015. Through this programme, Government has bridged the digital divide using pronged strategy: Increasing access to internet, Making internet affordable, Providing digital public infrastructure, Enhancing the digital literacy These efforts have collectively enabled wider access to digital services and opportunities, thereby fostering inclusive and equitable digital growth across the country. It can be seen from the following statistics: # 2014-15 2024-25 Remarks Total broadband subscribers 25 Cr 103 Cr 400% increase in subscribers Total numbers of Mobile Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) 7.9 Lakh 29.50 lakh Increase of about 273% villages covered with mobile connectivity (2G/3G/4G) ~ 5.27 lakh 6.35 lakh Increase of about 20.5% (near-universal coverage) Total optical fiber laid 358 kms 6,92,676 Kms OFC laid increased by about 1,935 times Average monthly data consumption per subscriber 61.66 MB ~ 25.25 GB Data consumption increased by ~ 419 times Cost of data per Gb Rs 269 ~ Rs 7.9 97% reduction in cost Digital India program has brought fundamental change in the people’s lives: More than 143 Cr Aadhar numbers have been issued providing digital identity to Indian residents. Aadhar was critical in developing the unified payment interface system. India's UPI is now the world's largest digital payment system with more than 46 Cr users and 685 banks. UPI powers 81% of India’s digital payments and nearly 49% of global real-time digital payments. Using Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile (JAM) Trinity, subsidies and benefits worth Rs. 49.82 lakh crore have been transferred directly to the citizens. Specific details of PMGDISHA, DigiLocker and UMANG: DigiLocker : DigiLocker enables citizens to access and share digitally issued documents anytime and anywhere, eliminating the need to carry physical copies and facilitating seamless verification by authorities. DigiLocker has provided digital access to authentic digital documents from original issuer for the common citizen. Currently, 67 crore users are registered on the platform. More than 967 crore documents have been issued using DigiLocker. UMANG: provides a single unified interface to access multiple Government services, enabling citizens to avail services from their homes, thereby saving time and travel costs. UMANG mobile application for all government services is operational and offers more than 2,446 services. It has more than 10.51 Cr registered users and more than 741 crore transactions have been carried out so far. PMGDISHA: Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) was launched in 2017 to ensure digital literacy. The scheme concluded on 31 st March 2024. The scheme was one of the world’s largest digital literacy initiatives. Against the target of training 6 Cr people, more than 6.39 Crore persons were trained nationwide. This information was submitted by Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Shri Jitin Prasada in Lok Sabha on 18.03.2026. **** MSZ (Release ID: 2241781) Visitor Counter : 924 Read this release in: Urdu , हिन्दी Ministry of Electronics & IT Digital India program has enabled wider access to digital services and opportunities 400% increase in broadband subscribers over a decade Posted On: 18 MAR 2026 4:04PM by PIB Delhi In line with Hon’ble Prime Minister's vision to democratize technology and empower citizens, the Government of India launched the Digital India programme in July 2015. Through this programme, Government has bridged the digital divide using pronged strategy: Increasing access to internet, Making internet affordable, Providing digital public infrastructure, Enhancing the digital literacy These efforts have collectively enabled wider access to digital services and opportunities, thereby fostering inclusive and equitable digital growth across the country. It can be seen from the following statistics: # 2014-15 2024-25 Remarks Total broadband subscribers 25 Cr 103 Cr 400% increase in subscribers Total numbers of Mobile Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) 7.9 Lakh 29.50 lakh Increase of about 273% villages covered with mobile connectivity (2G/3G/4G) ~ 5.27 lakh 6.35 lakh Increase of about 20.5% (near-universal coverage) Total optical fiber laid 358 kms 6,92,676 Kms OFC laid increased by about 1,935 times Average monthly data consumption per subscriber 61.66 MB ~ 25.25 GB Data consumption increased by ~ 419 times Cost of data per Gb Rs 269 ~ Rs 7.9 97% reduction in cost Digital India program has brought fundamental change in the people’s lives: More than 143 Cr Aadhar numbers have been issued providing digital identity to Indian residents. Aadhar was critical in developing the unified payment interface system. India's UPI is now the world's largest digital payment system with more than 46 Cr users and 685 banks. UPI powers 81% of India’s digital payments and nearly 49% of global real-time digital payments. Using Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile (JAM) Trinity, subsidies and benefits worth Rs. 49.82 lakh crore have been transferred directly to the citizens. Specific details of PMGDISHA, DigiLocker and UMANG: DigiLocker : DigiLocker enables citizens to access and share digitally issued documents anytime and anywhere, eliminating the need to carry physical copies and facilitating seamless verification by authorities. DigiLocker has provided digital access to authentic digital documents from original issuer for the common citizen. Currently, 67 crore users are registered on the platform. More than 967 crore documents have been issued using DigiLocker. UMANG: provides a single unified interface to access multiple Government services, enabling citizens to avail services from their homes, thereby saving time and travel costs. UMANG mobile application for all government services is operational and offers more than 2,446 services. It has more than 10.51 Cr registered users and more than 741 crore transactions have been carried out so far. PMGDISHA: Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) was launched in 2017 to ensure digital literacy. The scheme concluded on 31 st March 2024. The scheme was one of the world’s largest digital literacy initiatives. Against the target of training 6 Cr people, more than 6.39 Crore persons were trained nationwide. This information was submitted by Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Shri Jitin Prasada in Lok Sabha on 18.03.2026. **** MSZ (Release ID: 2241781) 400% increase in broadband subscribers over a decade" /> In line with Hon’ble Prime Minister's vision to democratize technology and empower citizens, the Government of India launched the Digital India programme in July 2015.   Through this programme, Government has bridged the digital divide using pronged strategy: <ul> <li style="text-align:justify">Increasing access to internet,</li> <li style="text-align:justify">Making internet affordable,</li> <li style="text-align:justify">Providing digital public infrastructure,</li> <li style="text-align:justify">Enhancing the digital literacy </li> </ul>   These efforts have collectively enabled wider access to digital services and opportunities, thereby fostering inclusive and equitable digital growth across the country. It can be seen from the following statistics: <table align="center" border="1" bordercolor="#ccc" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="Table" style="border-collapse:collapse"> <tbody> <tr> <td> # </td> <td> 2014-15 </td> <td> 2024-25 </td> <td> Remarks </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Total broadband subscribers </td> <td> 25 Cr </td> <td> 103 Cr </td> <td> 400% increase in subscribers </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Total numbers of Mobile Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) </td> <td> 7.9 Lakh </td> <td> 29.50 lakh </td> <td> Increase of about 273% </td> </tr> <tr> <td> villages covered with mobile connectivity (2G/3G/4G) </td> <td> ~ 5.27 lakh </td> <td> 6.35 lakh </td> <td> Increase of about 20.5% (near-universal coverage) </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Total optical fiber laid </td> <td> 358 kms </td> <td> 6,92,676 Kms </td> <td> OFC laid increased by about 1,935 times </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Average monthly data consumption per subscriber </td> <td>  61.66 MB </td> <td> ~ 25.25 GB </td> <td> Data consumption increased by ~ 419 times </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Cost of data per Gb </td> <td> Rs 269 </td> <td> ~ Rs 7.9 </td> <td> 97% reduction in cost </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Digital India program has brought fundamental change in the people’s lives: <ul> <li style="text-align:justify">More than 143 Cr Aadhar numbers have been issued providing digital identity to Indian residents.</li> <li style="text-align:justify"><span style="co

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Digital India program has enabled wider access to digital services and opportunities

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