Next decade of India's telecom growth to be driven by digital infrastructure usage: Communications Minister

Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of India Mobile Congress 2026, Scindia said the focus must now shift towards leveraging India's vast digital infrastructure for nation-building and improving government service delivery to citizens.

The next decade (2026–2035) of India's telecom growth will be driven by the effective use of digital infrastructure rather than just expanding connectivity, Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said. Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of India Mobile Congress 2026, Scindia said the focus must now shift towards leveraging India's vast digital infrastructure for nation-building and improving government service delivery to citizens.

“The story of the next decade  2026 to 2035 has to be about usage. The next paradigm is going to be of usage.” Highlighting the importance of digital infrastructure, the minister added, “How each one of us as Indians use this infrastructure to contribute to nation building, how government can more effectively use this infrastructure to provide services for every single citizen.”

Reflecting on the growth of India's telecom sector over the past decade, Scindia said the country has witnessed a significant expansion in broadband connectivity. “The last decade was about scalability. The last decade was about penetration. The last decade was about affordability,” he said. He further highlighted that India’s broadband subscribers have increased from around 60 million to over 1.1 billion, while falling data tariffs have played a major role in expanding access.

“We have discussed many times of how voice prices have crashed, data prices have lowered by almost 97%, which has led to greater penetration.” Scindia said the government is rolling out the amended BharatNet programme at a cost of USD 14 billion to connect around 2.6 lakh gram panchayats with 100 Mbps fibre connectivity.

Speaking about the evolution of India Mobile Congress (IMC), Scindia said the platform has grown from showcasing global telecom technologies in India to becoming a major digital technology platform in Asia. “IMC slowly but surely has moved from bringing the world to India to becoming Asia's biggest digital platform,” he said.

He stressed that the next phase of growth must focus on showcasing Indian innovation and telecom capabilities to global markets. “The last decade has been about bringing the world to India. The next decade has to be about taking India to the world,” Scindia said. (ANI)