Digital India at 10: Rs 44 lakh crore in DBT, 95 crore broadband users, 176 crore beneficiaries transformed

India’s Digital India mission, launched on July 1, 2015, has transformed from an ambitious vision into a reality shaping the everyday lives of over a billion citizens. Ten years on, the initiative has laid the foundation for a digitally empowered knowledge economy, fueling the country’s rise as the world’s fourth-largest economy with a GDP of $4.19 trillion.

As per a data released by MIB, the expansion of digital infrastructure under Digital India has been nothing short of phenomenal. Telephone connections have surged from 93 crore in 2014 to over 120 crore in 2025, with rural tele-density growing nearly 40%. Broadband connections have seen an exponential 1452% rise, from 6 crore in 2014 to nearly 95 crore in 2024. India now leads globally in 5G deployment and has seen a 285% growth in internet users over the past decade.

Flagship projects like BharatNet have connected more than 2 lakh gram panchayats with nearly 7 lakh km of optical fiber, revolutionizing connectivity in rural India. These achievements have set the stage for inclusive digital growth at scale.

The JAM Trinity—Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile has been instrumental in redefining service delivery. As per the MIB data, over 141 crore Aadhaar numbers have enabled identity-driven governance, while the DBT ecosystem now covers 176 crore beneficiaries, disbursing Rs 44 lakh crore directly and transparently. These reforms have also helped remove over 10 crore fake beneficiaries, saving the exchequer Rs 3.48 lakh crore.

The impact has been transformative: financial inclusion in India now stands at over 80% for adults, with 25 crore people lifted out of multidimensional poverty between 2014 and 2023. The PM Jan Dhan Yojana alone saw deposits surge by 704%, turning homes into financial hubs.

Global game-changer UPI

Among the most significant breakthroughs is the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), launched in 2016. Now responsible for nearly 50% of the world’s digital transactions, UPI has surpassed Visa in transaction volume and records over 65 crore transactions daily.

Its zero-cost, real-time transactions and interoperability have made it the backbone of India’s digital finance ecosystem, particularly in rural areas, enabling instant credit and digital payments through agri-fintech platforms.

India’s digital-first approach extends to service delivery and commerce. Over 5 lakh Common Service Centres operate across rural India, and the PMGDISHA scheme has trained over 6 crore people in digital literacy.

Initiatives like BHASHINI, with 8 lakh+ downloads, offer multilingual support across 35+ Indian languages and 1600+ AI models. DigiLocker has scaled from just 10 lakh users in 2015 to over 54 crore users today. UMANG has become a unified platform for over 2,300 government services, serving 8 crore users with 597 crore transactions.

Further, the open digital commerce network ONDC now empowers 8 lakh sellers across 616 cities, while the GeM platform has recorded Rs 5 lakh crore in GMV in FY25 and saved Rs 1.15 lakh crore in procurement costs since inception.

The new age technology

India’s AI capacity now exceeds 34,000 GPUs as of May 2025, propelling domestic research and innovation. The AI market is projected to reach $17 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 25–35%.

Meanwhile, the India Semiconductor Mission has approved six major projects, attracting Rs 2 lakh crore in investments and fast-tracking the establishment of five semiconductor fabs, making India more self-reliant and globally competitive.

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