Introduction
In July 2015, the Indian government launched the ‘Digital India’ initiative to improve online infrastructure and increase internet accessibility among citizens (for example, linking rural areas to high-speed internet networks); thereby, empowering the country to become more digitally advanced.
The initiative encompasses the following three key objectives:
- Establish a secure and stable digital infrastructure
- Deliver digital services
- Ensure that every citizen has access to the Internet
The government’s increased focus to create a digitally empowered economy is forecast to benefit all sectors, wherein core digital sectors such as information technology &
business process management, digital communication services and electronics manufacturing are likely to double their GDPs to Rs. 30,42,350 – 37,27,950 crore (US$ 355-435 billion) by 2025.
According to NASSCOM, India's technology sector is projected to reach Rs. 25,69,500 crore (US$ 300 billion) in revenue for the FY26, representing a 6% growth over the previous year. In the FY25, the sector achieved a 5.1% growth, adding Rs. 1,18,197 crore (US$ 13.8 billion) in incremental revenue to reach a total of Rs. 24,20,469 crore (US$ 282.6 billion). Nasscom has revised the tech sector's revenue for the FY24 to Rs. 23,02,272 crore (US$ 268.8 billion), up from the previously reported Rs. 21,75,510 crore (US$ 254 billion). In the FY25, the technology industry saw a net increase of 1,26,000 new hires, bringing the total number of employees to 5.8 million.
In another report, McKinsey highlighted that the ‘Digital India’ initiative is expected to boost the country’s digital economy to Rs. 85,70,000 crore (US$ 1 trillion) by 2025, up from Rs. 17,14,000 crore (US$ 200 billion) in 2018.
Need for ‘Digital India’
Despite rising adoption of digital technologies and the IT industry, India’s digital divide is deep and is creating economic disparities between those who can afford technology and those who cannot, thereby affecting the country’s overall digital growth.
To bridge this divide, the government introduced the ‘Digital India’ initiative, covering various programmes such as e-governance, mobile e-health services, and digital finance for digital inclusiveness. Through schemes such as Aadhaar (a digital ID programme), BharatNet and public Wi-Fi hotspots, the ‘Digital India’ initiative is enabling the country (including small towns and rural areas) to develop its internet infrastructure. As on March 2024, Overall internet penetration in India stood at 67 for every 100 people. State wise Kerala stood first with (87) while Telangana stood at (83) for every 100 people.
Further, the country’s low mobile data rates have allowed a vast population to access the Internet. As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, as of September 2024, the total internet subscribers (including wireless and wired internet subscribers) stood at 971.50 million, up from 918.19 million subscribers in September 2023.
To implement ‘Digital India Platform’, the government partnered with the following leading technology firms:
- In 2019, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) collaborated with Google to launch the ‘Build for Digital India’ programme to provide engineering students an opportunity to create market-ready, technology-based solutions.
- In January 2021, MeitY collaborated with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to establish a quantum computing applications lab in India to accelerate quantum computing-driven research & development and enable new scientific discoveries.
- The government joined forces with private sector companies (e.g., Amdocs, Cognizant, Cyient, Google, Intel, Microsoft and Zensar Technologies) to establish NDLM (National Digital Literacy Mission) centres and facilitate digital literacy training in India.
Digital India: Key initiatives and progress
Key initiatives under the ‘Digital India’ mission are as follows:
|
Initiative |
Description |
Current Status |
|
Aadhaar |
It was launched in 2009 to provide every Indian resident with a unique identity or Aadhaar number. |
According to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), more than 138.08 crore residents of India possess Aadhaar as of September 2023. |
|
DigiLocker |
It was launched in 2015 to create a cloud-based platform to issue, exchange and verify essential documents or certificates. |
As of March 2025, there are 75.91 million registered Digi Locker users in India. |
|
MyGov |
It was launched in 2014 to bring the government closer to the people by providing an interface (online forum) for exchange of ideas. |
As of March 2025, there are more than 30 million registered members on MyGov. |
|
BharatNet |
It was introduced in 2012 (renamed in 2015) to connect all 250,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country and provide 100 Mbps internet connectivity. |
As of January 2025, there are 2,14,323 Gram Panchayats connected through the BharatNet project. |
|
Smart Cities |
It was initiated in 2015 to transform all Indian cities into smart cities by leveraging various technologies. |
As of December 2024, with 100 cities leading the initiative, the mission has made significant progress, having completed 91% of projects i.e. 7,380 out of 8,075 projects, with an investment of Rs. 1,47,704 crore (US$ 17.24 billion). |
|
Common Service Centres (CSCs) |
Under the Digital India programme, CSC 2.0 aims to establish a self-sustaining network of 2.5 lakh CSC centres in Gram Panchayats. Was implemented by Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeiTY). |
As of February 2025, there were 5,72,664 active CSC IDs and total no of transactions are 365.23 lakhs. |
|
Digitisation of Post Offices |
Under the Digital India programme, the government aims to convert ~150,000 post offices into multiservice centres. |
As of May 2022, India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) enabled >1.55 lakh post offices to provide banking services, including access to every Aadhaar-linked bank account, at the customer's doorstep, through its 650 branches. |
|
Universal Access to Mobile |
It was launched to provide mobile connectivity to >55,600 villages in India. |
As of December 2023, > Six lakh villages were provided with mobile and internet connectivity. |
|
Public Wi-Fi Hotspots |
It was introduced to develop public Wi-Fi hotspots to allow people to access internet without relying on mobile data. |
As of April 2025, India's public Wi-Fi hotspots reached 2,80,000 far less than target of 10 million by 2022 and 50 million by 2030. |
|
India Stack |
India Stack aims to develop payment-enabled applications, using Aadhaar as the base for authentication. |
The government uses JAM's (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) direct benefit transfers for ~317 services. In FY21, it conducted 2.6 billion transactions, transferring >US$ 46 billion to beneficiaries. |
|
Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan (PMGDISHA) |
It was launched in 2017 to help people in rural areas become digitally literate. The scheme aimed to cover 6 crore rural citizens by March 2020, achieving ~40% rural households by targeting one member from every eligible household. |
As of March 2025, 7,35,71,963 beneficiaries were registered; of these, 6,39,41,716 beneficiaries were certified. |
|
e-Health |
It was introduced to provide timely and effective healthcare services such as online registrations, payments, reports, and claims. |
As of April 5, 2025, over 76 crore Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHA) have been created under the ABDM. There are over 5.95 lakh verified healthcare professionals registered under the ABDM Scheme, with over 3.86 lakh verified health facilities. Under ABDM, more than 52 crores health records are linked. |
|
E-education |
It was started to provide online education in remote and urban areas using technologies such as smartphones, apps, and Internet services. |
In May 2020, the government launched PM eVIDYA, a programme for multimode access to digital/online education. In FY21, NISHTHA - Phase II was launched at the secondary level to customise modules for online delivery. As per the Union Budget 2021-22, under the NISHTHA training programme, 5.6 million teachers will be trained in FY22. Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA), the world’s largest education platform. As on April 15, 2025, 561.81 crore learning sessions have been imparted using DIKSHA. It has achieved 18.19 crore course enrolments and 14.53 crore course completions. |
Digital India Mission – Union Budget Highlights
- In 2023, Union cabinet, approved the expansion plan of Digital India programme, with total outlay of Rs. 14,903 crore (US$ 1.9 billion) to digitise the Indian economy.
- In Union Budget 2025-26, the government announced that a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for education will be set up with a total outlay of Rs. 500 crore (US$ 58 million). Additionally, 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs will be established in Government schools by 2031.
The Road Ahead
The rising use of unified payments interface (UPIs) strongly indicate that more and more people in India are adopting a digital lifestyle. Moreover, the volume of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions increased from 131.14 billion in FY24 to 185.85 billion in FY25, with a growth rate of 42%. Similarly, the value of UPI transactions rose from Rs. 199.96 lakh crore (US$ 2.33 trillion) in FY24 to Rs. 260.56 lakh crore (US$ 3.04 trillion) in FY25, with a growth rate of 30%. The focus will be on creating a digitally empowered society and a knowledge economy that can compete globally in the digital age.
With the emergence of technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, blockchains and robotics, the government can use these new avenues to further enable digital and technology growth in India. As per a McKinsey report, a digital economy is likely to create 60-65 million jobs by 2025. With the ‘Digital India’ mission, the government is well-aligned to tap this opportunity and create an economic value of Rs. 85,70,000 crore (US$ 1 trillion) by 2025 from the digital economy.
Partners
