New Delhi: Marking the 10th anniversary of the flagship Digital India programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday penned a reflective note celebrating what he described as a people-powered revolution that has redefined India’s technology landscape, governance, and economic inclusion.
In a blog post, the Prime Minister recounted the ambitious vision launched in 2014, transforming a country with limited internet access and poor digital literacy into one of the world’s largest and most inclusive digital ecosystems.
“Ten years ago, we embarked on a bold journey into uncharted territory with great conviction,” he wrote, highlighting how India overcame skepticism that technology would deepen social divides, instead using it to bridge them.
He credited the success to the government’s inclusive policies, resilient infrastructure, and the trust placed in ordinary citizens to embrace technology. Citing staggering figures, he noted that internet connections had grown from 25 crore in 2014 to over 97 crore today, with more than 42 lakh kilometers of Optical Fibre Cable laid across the country — enough to wrap around the Earth over a thousand times.
Modi showcased India’s record-breaking 5G rollout, describing how over 4.8 lakh 5G towers have sprung up in just two years, reaching even remote regions like Galwan, Siachen, and Ladakh.
He hailed India Stack as a “digital backbone” powering services like UPI, which now handles more than 100 billion transactions every year — half of the world’s total real-time payments.
Direct Benefit Transfers, he added, had delivered over Rs 44 lakh crore straight into citizens’ accounts, eliminating leakages and saving nearly Rs 3.5 lakh crore. Initiatives such as SVAMITVA, which has issued millions of property cards and mapped thousands of villages, have further empowered rural India.
Modi also spotlighted MSMEs benefitting from digital commerce platforms like ONDC and GeM. “ONDC crossed 200 million transactions recently, while GeM surpassed Rs 1 lakh crore GMV in just 50 days,” he wrote, acknowledging women-led businesses playing a crucial role.
Highlighting India’s influence abroad, the Prime Minister mentioned how global players are adopting Indian public digital infrastructure tools like Aadhaar, CoWIN, DigiLocker, and FASTag. Under its G20 presidency, India also launched the Global DPI Repository and a $25 million social impact fund to help other nations build their own inclusive digital systems.
He went on to highlight India’s thriving startup ecosystem, with more than 1.8 lakh startups placing the country among the world’s top three. Stressing India’s growing role in artificial intelligence, he cited the $1.2 billion India AI Mission and India’s plan to offer affordable GPU computing capacity globally.
Calling this technology revolution a “renaissance,” the Prime Minister said, “Digital India is no longer just a government programme, it has become a people’s movement.”
Looking ahead, he urged young innovators to “build what empowers, solve what truly matters, and lead with technology that unites, includes, and uplifts.”
