India’s digital leap: Impressive strides but deep divides remain
India’s remarkable digital growth, from 25 crore internet users in 2014 to 97 crore in 2024, highlights strong progress in connectivity. Yet, gaps in digital inclusion, infrastructure, and cyber security persist.;

Among the most conspicuous progress made by India in recent years has to be the rapid strides made by the country in the digital trajectory. Prime Minister Modi has rightly harped on the advances made in the sphere, which has been among the fastest in the world.
From a limited internet access of 25 crore in 2014, the figure has jumped to 97 crore in 2024, and over 42 lakh km of optical fibre cable - equivalent to 11 times the distance between the Earth and the moon now connects many of even the remotest villages. The thrust put on internet connectivity by the current government definitely deserves credit.
At the same time, the spadework for such a transformative change was laid way back in the late 1980s by the then PM Rajiv Gandhi, who took some pioneering steps for computerisation and digitalisation, besides telecommunication development. In fact, India had begun with a head start in the late 1980s only to be overtaken by China in the subsequent decades due to the latter's unwavering commitment and innovation and a loss of focus on the part of successive Indian governments.
Today, the gap continues to grow in some areas, but in others India has started to improve their performance.
The task ahead for the government is clear - it needs to build further on the success achieved so far by investing more in bridging the still-prevalent digital divide. Innovation should be another critical area to focus on, as despite growing internet access, the benefits of internet penetration have not reached all segments.
While the low banking penetration has excluded a large portion of the population from the benefits of digital empowerment, the slow progress of State governments in transforming internet-enabled services into a routine exercise for the benefit of the citizens remains another stumbling block. In the matter of facilitating public services and addressing public grievances in particular, this can be a game-changer if the authorities are willing to go the extra mile.
Overall, India's digital growth faces several significant challenges, including the digital divide, inadequate infrastructure (like internet speed and access), digital illiteracy, cybersecurity threats, and regulatory complexities. Additionally, data privacy concerns, the potential for job displacement due to automation, and the need for robust e-governance implementation also create problem areas.
The integration of various government departments needs to be done on a priority basis, which has technical as well as corporate issues. As for the growing cyber threat, it is a global issue and the best way to tackle is to have a strong cybercrime response mechanism. A most critical drawback hindering India's digital progress happens to be inadequate infrastructure, which is comprehensively inadequate to tackle the growing increase in digital transactions. This irritant gets amplified due to slow and delayed infrastructure development.