During the CII Annual Business Summit 2025, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia expressed confidence that India would emerge as the data capital of the world within the next five years. He emphasised that India is recognised globally as a digital-first economy, largely driven by a significant telecom revolution. The minister noted that the telecom subscriber base has surged from 800 million a decade ago to approximately 1.2 billion, making India the second largest mobile market in the world. He added that the broadband user base has also expanded to 940 million.
Scindia highlighted the substantial decrease in connectivity costs and handset prices over the years, recalling a time when call tariffs reached Rs 16 per minute. He pointed out that eleven years ago, the cost of 1 GB of data was Rs 287, whereas now it stands at just Rs 9, which reflects a dramatic 97 percent reduction in communication costs.
He concluded by stating that India's cost of data communication is currently just 5 percent of the global average.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia recently launched the Sanchar Mitra Scheme, which aims to improve the connection between the telecom industry and everyday citizens. During the launch event, he was asked about when satellite communication services would be available in India. Scindia explained that it will be up to each telecom company to decide how to move forward once they get the necessary licenses and frequency allocations.
He emphasised that the government's job is to grant these licenses as long as the companies meet certain requirements. Currently, two companies have already qualified, and a third is close to doing so. Scindia reaffirmed the government's commitment to issuing licenses to companies that follow the rules. He also pointed out that companies will have to navigate their own paths after they receive the spectrum needed to operate their services, based on the regulations set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
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