Government Highlights Digital India Initiatives for Strengthening Digital Infrastructure, Cyber Security and Data Protection

The Ministry of Electronics & IT highlighted the progress of the Digital India programme since its launch in July 2015, focusing on digital infrastructure, cyber security and data protection. Key achievements include expansion of internet connectivity through BharatNet (2.21 lakh Gram Panchayats service‑ready, 80,472 PoPs) and 24,784 towers under Digital Bharat Nidhi; growth in telecom and broadband penetration (telephone connections up to 133 crore, internet subscribers 109.27 crore as of March 2026); widespread adoption of digital public services such as Aadhaar (1.44 billion IDs), DBT (₹52 lakh crore transferred), UPI (55.49 crore users), DigiLocker (71.66 crore users) and CSCs (5.01 lakh functional). Digital skills initiatives (PMGDISHA, FutureSkills Prime, NIELIT) have trained over 6.39 crore and 34 lakh candidates respectively. Cyber security measures include NCSC, CERT‑In, NCCC, CSK, I4C and NCIIPC. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and Rules 2025 provide a framework for data protection. The IndiaAI Mission, approved in March 2024 with a ₹10,371.92 crore outlay, aims to build AI infrastructure, indigenous models, talent pipelines and responsible AI governance.