Digital infra powering India’s economic shift: Scindia

DIgital connectivity is the “ unseeable substructure” powering bharat’s economical transmutation, Union minister for communications Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Saturday, highlighting the role of telecom and postal reforms in achieving the $5 trillion economy target.“Railways and highways powered the industrial revolution. Today, digital highways power growth,” Scindia said, while addressing the 10th edition of the ET NOW Times Group Global Business Summit.He added: “From just about 60 million broadband subscribers 10 years ago, India now has over one billion. The cost of 1GB of data has fallen from ₹287 in 2014 to about ₹9 today roughly $0.11 compared to the global average of $2.49, making India home to the world’s cheapest data ecosystem. India now accounts for nearly 50% of global digital transactions, with platforms such as the Unified Payments Interface processing close to 20 billion transactions a month.”Scindia said this digital backbone has democratised commerce -- a farmer in Tripura can now access markets directly, bypass intermediaries, and connect to national and international buyers through platforms like the Open Network for Digital Commerce.He stressed that digital capability is now recognised globally as a pillar of sustainable development, referencing deliberations at G20 digital ministers’ meetings. India, he added, is not only powering its own economy but shaping global digital standards and transactions. “We are no longer playing catch-up,” he remarked. “India is leading.”Backing this ambition is one of the largest public funded connectivity programmes in the world, the ₹1.39 lakh crore BharatNet initiative, aimed at connecting over 250,000 gram panchayats and nearly 380,000 villages through optical fibre. This, Scindia said, will ensure broadband on demand in every village, turning rural India into a digitally enabled production and services hub.On telecom manufacturing, he highlighted India’s strategic breakthrough: BSNL’s indigenous 4G stack, developed in just 19 months by a consortium of C-DoT, Tejas Networks and TCS. He said, “For the first time in decades, India has joined the elite group of countries capable of designing and deploying its own end-to-end telecom network.”He said that India’s 5G rollout has been the fastest globally, with nearly 500,000 towers deployed in just 22 months and coverage extended to 99.9% of districts. He added, “Of India’s 120 crore mobile subscribers, about 40 crore are already on 5G, and this number is projected to cross 100 crore by 2030.”Looking ahead, Scindia revealed that India is aggressively preparing for 6G. A national 6G mission launched in 2023 aims to secure at least 10% of global patents when standards are finalised by international bodies such as ITU and 3GPP. Quarterly reviews are being conducted to monitor progress across key verticals, signalling a determined push to convert India’s digital dividend into technological leadership.Addressing concerns about monetisation and sustainability, the minister pointed to BSNL’s turnaround. After 18 years of losses, the public sector telecom firm has posted back-to-back quarterly profits and is targeting double-digit revenue growth this fiscal. Operating profits have strengthened significantly, laying the groundwork for a swift transition from 4G to 5G services.Scindia also detailed the sweeping transformation of India Post, describing it as an unmatched distribution network with 1.65 lakh post offices. Through business process re-engineering, global benchmarking with postal systems like USPS, Royal Mail and Japan Post, and technology upgrades such as automated sorting and real-time tracking, India Post is being reshaped into a logistics and fulfilment powerhouse. It is expanding into passport services, Aadhaar enrolment and financial distribution, including mutual funds. “There should be no service or commodity that cannot be accessed from your local post office,” he said, promising a rebranded and modernised India Post within the next three to four years.If the industrial age was built on tracks and roads, Scindia’s message was that India’s next growth chapter will ride on fibre cables, digital stacks and indigenous telecom innovation from a farmer in Tripura to a startup in Bengaluru, all connected on the same invisible highway.