New Delhi: India boasts a significant milestone in telecommunications, with 117 crore mobile connections and 93 crore internet connections, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia revealed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, July 31. . He highlighted that India's call rates are among the lowest worldwide.

According to Scindia, the cost of a call per minute has plummeted from 53 paisa to just 3 paisa--a 93% reduction, marking some of the most affordable rates globally.

Currently, the price for 1 GB of data in India stands at ₹9.12, the lowest globally, as per the minister.

Under the Digital India Initiative, a variety of technology-driven projects and innovation schemes, including Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0), Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups (GENESIS), and Next Generation Incubation Scheme (NGIS), have been launched with a funding of approximately ₹800 crore in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

As of March 2024, India has 954.40 million internet subscribers, with 398.35 million residing in rural areas. Furthermore, out of 6,44,131 villages in the country, 6,12,952 are equipped with 3G/4G mobile connectivity, ensuring 95.15% of villages have internet access.

The number of internet subscribers in India has surged from 251.59 million in March 2014 to 954.40 million by March 2024, reflecting a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.26%.

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