According to Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, the cost of call for per minute has reduced by 93 per cent to 3 paise from 53 paisa. In addition, the cost of 1 GB data is Rs 9.12, being one of the lowest call rates in the world.
The minister noted that India now has 1.17 billion mobile connections and 930 million internet connections. Meanwhile, the total internet subscribers in India grew at a 14.26 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR), from 251.59 million in March 2014 to 954.40 million in March 2024.
As per the minister, under the Digital India Initiative, various technology- led startups and innovation schemes like Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0), Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups (GENESIS), domain specific centres of excellence (CoEs) and Next Generation Incubation Scheme (NGIS) have been undertaken with a total funding outlay of Rs 8 billion in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
