India now a digital flag-bearer of the World: Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia at IMC 2025

Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia

India has transformed from a “technology taker to a digital flag-bearer of the world,” Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said while inaugurating the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025 on Wednesday.

Highlighting the country’s rapid telecom evolution, Scindia said India’s mobile data costs have fallen by 98% over the past 11 years, dropping from Rs 287 per GB in 2014 to just Rs 9.11 today. “There was a time when a single minute of voice was a luxury. Today, India is home to 20% of the world’s mobile population with 1.2 billion subscribers,” he said.

Scindia credited the Prime Minister’s vision for turning connectivity into “a medium of equity and opportunity,” bridging the divide between rich and poor.

He outlined India’s telecom revolution around four pillars: democracy, demography, digital-first, and delivery, with nearly 99.9% of districts now connected by 5G and 944 million broadband subscribers nationwide.

The minister announced that this year’s IMC would host over 1.5 lakh participants from 150 countries, featuring 1,500 exhibitors and showcasing cutting-edge innovations in 5G, 6G, AI, and IoT. A highlight will be the Startup World Cup 2025 (India edition), where 550 startups will compete for global recognition and investment opportunities.

Emphasizing India’s growing strength in indigenous technology, Scindia cited the recent rollout of one lakh homegrown 4G towers, calling it “built in India, for India, and for the world.” He said this marks the country’s rise as a “product nation,” adding that the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has generated Rs 91,000 crore in production, Rs 18,000 crore in exports, and 30,000 jobs.

Scindia said India’s ambitions extend beyond 5G, with the Bharat 6G Alliance targeting 10% of global 6G patents, and SATCOM expanding to connect “land, sea, and space.” The domestic SATCOM market, he noted, is projected to triple to $15 billion by 2033.

“India is not just a participant in the digital revolution…India is leading it,” Scindia said, invoking Prime Minister Modi’s call to “design here, solve here, scale everywhere.”