How Has Digital India Transformed Bharat into the World’s Digital Capital?

New Delhi, June 30 (NationPress) Despite the initiation of e-governance projects in the 1990s, the significant digital divide that persisted in India until about a decade ago not only caused economic disparities between individuals who could access technology and those who couldn't, but also hampered the nation's overall growth due to inadequate digital infrastructure.

However, the landscape has transformed remarkably in India over the last decade since Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Digital India initiative on July 1, 2015, aimed at digitally empowering the nation and elevating India's global standing by transitioning into a knowledge-driven economy.

As we mark a decade of the Digital India initiative, India, which lagged in technological advancements up until 2014, has emerged as the world’s digital capital, enhancing the lives of citizens through the digital provision of services, boosting the digital economy, and creating new employment opportunities.

Highlighting the success of the Digital India program, over 95 percent of villages now have Internet access, with rural telephone connections soaring from 377.78 million in 2014 to 536.65 million, and rural tele-density increasing from 44 percent in 2014 to 59.06 percent in 2025.

Similarly, the Internet penetration rate in India has surged to over 55 percent in 2025, up from approximately 14 percent in 2014, with the number of Internet users escalating to 97 crore in 2025 from 25 crore in 2014, reflecting a growth of about 288 percent.

Rise of Digital Economy

As the Indian economy has rapidly digitalized over the past decade, India is now the third largest country globally in terms of economy-wide digitalization, following the US and China, according to the State of India’s Digital Economy Report 2024, surpassing developed nations like the UK, Germany, and South Korea.

The digital economy contributed 11.74 percent to national income in 2022-23 and is anticipated to rise to 13.42 percent by 2024-25.

It is also expected to expand nearly twice as rapidly as the overall economy, possibly accounting for almost one-fifth of national income by 2029-30, outpacing agriculture and manufacturing.

Digital Payments Revolution

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a notable Indian innovation that has gained international recognition, is currently operational in seven countries including the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, and Mauritius.

UPI's launch in France, marking its initial entry into Europe, illustrates how India's digital payments revolution has compelled advanced nations in the West to catch up.

As noted by Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation and co-founder of Microsoft, “India's digital innovations such as Aadhaar and UPI have ‘set the gold standard’ for digital public infrastructure, demonstrating to other countries how to provide enhanced services to their populations.”

Currently, India boasts an 87 percent Fintech adoption rate, compared to 67 percent globally. UPI transactions reached an unprecedented Rs 25.14 lakh crore in May 2025, with daily transactions averaging Rs 81,106 crore, signifying a silent digital revolution.

Optimisation of Fiscal Allocations

The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system stands out as one of the most ambitious reforms in the public welfare framework of the country.

Prior to DBT, welfare schemes were plagued by misidentification of beneficiaries, fraudulent entries, and corruption by intermediaries. However, DBT has facilitated the direct transfer of Rs 44 lakh crore in benefits to Aadhaar-verified beneficiaries, effectively eliminating middlemen and fraudulent entries. This has led to cumulative savings of Rs 3.48 lakh crore, with food subsidies alone contributing Rs 1.85 lakh crore (53 percent of total savings) through Aadhaar-linked Public Distribution System reforms.

In the pre-DBT era (2009–2013), subsidies constituted nearly 16 percent of total government expenditures, amounting to Rs 2.1 lakh crore annually, with significant leakages in the system. By 2024, this figure had decreased to 9 percent, while the coverage of beneficiaries surged sixteen-fold from 11 crore to 176 crore.

This reduction in the subsidy burden, despite a substantial increase in coverage, highlights DBT’s pivotal role in optimizing fiscal allocations by eliminating ghost beneficiaries and intermediaries. The DBT initiative has successfully removed over 5.87 crore ineligible ration card holders and canceled 4.23 crore duplicate or fake LPG connections.

Connect to Rural India

The Digital India initiative has significantly advanced connectivity in rural India, with the BharatNet project providing high-speed internet to over 2.18 lakh Gram Panchayats by laying nearly 6.92 lakh km of optical fiber cable.

This digital expansion has empowered marginalized communities, with initiatives such as the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) certifying over 47.8 million rural citizens as digitally literate, granting them access to information, services, and opportunities that were previously beyond their reach.

As digital technology has made financial services more accessible, over half of the Fintech consumers in India are from semi-urban and rural backgrounds, and more than a third of digital payment users reside in rural regions. The entrepreneurial spirit is flourishing beyond major urban centers, with approximately 45 percent of startups originating from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, establishing India as the fastest-growing ecosystem for Fintech innovations.

Inclusive Public Services

The rollout of e-governance initiatives has transformed public services in India. Currently, 4,671 e-services are operational across 709 districts, with Common Services Centres offering over 400 digital services in rural areas. Additionally, more than 1,668 e-services and over 20,197 bill payment services are accessible through the Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG).

The Digi Locker, launched in 2015 to provide digital access to authentic documents, now boasts 51.6 crore users. BHASHINI (BHASHa INterface for India), aimed at bridging India's linguistic diversity through technology, supports over 35 languages, utilizing more than 1,600 AI models and 18 language services.

Furthermore, the One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) initiative is revolutionizing India's research landscape by granting access to over 13,000 academic journals from 30 international publishers, playing a crucial role in positioning India as the next Global Research Destination.

Digital Ecosystems for All

The government has also introduced e-governance initiatives across various sectors. Launched in 2022, the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)—with 7.64 lakh registered sellers and service providers in over 616 cities—has democratized digital commerce in India by fostering an open, inclusive ecosystem for buyers, sellers, and service providers, particularly MSMEs. Additionally, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), initiated in 2016, has streamlined procurement for government departments, connecting more than 1.6 lakh government buyers with over 22.5 lakh sellers and service providers nationwide.

Suggestions: Promote Digital Technology as Exports: Similar to other nations exporting their technology, India should export digital technology tools such as UPI or Aadhaar-based systems to other countries, which could become a significant source of earnings through exports.

Creation of Jobs for Future Digital Technology Development: As India becomes a significant exporter of digital technology, it will create millions of development-related jobs for Indian youth.

Promote Digital Technology as a Tool against Corruption: India’s digital infrastructure, led by Aadhaar and UPI, should serve as a sovereign-friendly alternative to global systems, particularly in developing nations and world bodies, to help prevent corruption.

Promote Digital Currency as a Global Currency: India should aspire to become the global hub for digital transactions, positioning digital currency or fund transfers as the new global standard for business.

Transitioning from a nation previously behind in technology, Digital India has elevated the country to a global leader and a model for others in digital adoption over the past decade.

By empowering citizens through effective governance and digitalization, Digital India is paving the way for a more inclusive, prosperous, and digitally connected Bharat.

(The writer is Pro-Chancellor of Chandigarh University and the Founder of Indian Minorities Foundation)