Digital India drives surge in broadband, data use; subscribers rise 400% in a decade:Jitin Prasada
Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasada on Wednesday said the Digital India programme has significantly expanded access to digital services and infrastructure across the country, with broadband subscribers increasing nearly fourfold over the past decade.
Informing the Lok Sabha, he said the number of broadband subscribers rose from 25 crore in 2014-15 to 103 crore in 2024-25, marking a 400% increase. The number of mobile base transceiver stations (BTS) also grew from 7.9 lakh to 29.50 lakh, an increase of about 273%.
He said mobile connectivity has expanded to nearly all villages, rising from around 5.27 lakh villages to 6.35 lakh, reflecting an increase of about 20.5%. Optical fibre coverage has also expanded sharply, from 358 kms in 2014-15 to 6,92,676 kms in 2024-25, an increase of about 1,935 times.
Average monthly data consumption per subscriber surged from 61.66 MB to about 25.25 GB, while the cost of data declined from Rs 269 per GB to around Rs 7.9, a reduction of 97%, he added.
The minister said the Digital India programme, launched in July 2015, has focused on expanding internet access, improving affordability, building digital public infrastructure and enhancing digital literacy, leading to more inclusive and equitable digital growth.
He said over 143 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued, providing a digital identity to residents. The Aadhaar framework has supported the growth of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which now has over 46 crore users and 685 banks, accounting for 81% of India’s digital payments and nearly 49% of global real-time digital payments.
Using the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) trinity, benefits worth Rs 49.82 lakh crore have been transferred directly to citizens, he said.
Highlighting key platforms, he said DigiLocker has registered 67 crore users and issued over 967 crore documents, while the UMANG app offers more than 2,446 services with over 10.51 crore registered users and more than 741 crore transactions.
He added that under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA), more than 6.39 crore people were trained in digital literacy against a target of 6 crore before the scheme concluded on March 31, 2024.
