Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and internet of things (IoT) are increasingly shaping the day-to-day lives of citizens in India. As a result, digital infrastructure has become as essential as conventional infrastructure amenities such as road, telecommunications, water and electricity. While industry initiatives such as the fastest roll-out of 5G and passive infrastructure sharing have contributed to the growth of digital infrastructure in the country, the government too has played an integral role in this. A look at some of the government’s major moves over the past year to build different pillars of digital infrastructure…
Leveraging street furniture
To drive smart street development in India, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) notified the Right of Way [RoW] Rules under Sections 11, 12, 15, 17 and 56 of the Telecommunications Act, 2023 in September 2024. The rules explain how telecommunication infrastructure could be mounted over public and private property. These rules came into effect on January 1, 2025 and supersede the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016, and the Indian Telegraph (Infrastructure Safety) Rules, 2022. They empower the central and state governments to direct the authorised entities and public entities that own the infrastructure to create a temporary telecom network above the ground in public interest or in the case of special public events. Moreover, the rules give facility providers more time to execute projects in case of notified cases of force majeure that are beyond the control of the entities. At the same time, the central government can notify projects as “special projects” in “public interest”. For these projects, the permissions required for establishing overground or underground networks will be “deemed granted” and they will not be subject to any fees. Meanwhile, a telecom service provider would require permission before conducting a survey for a telecom project. Although there is no fee for installing small cells on buildings and structures controlled by the public entity, the facility provider will have to pay an annual amount of Rs 300 per street furniture in urban areas and Rs 150 per street furniture in rural areas to the public entity. A one-time fee of Rs 1,000 per km will be charged for examining the application for setting up the underground telecom network (including submarine cables on land and water). Meanwhile, the charges for examining the application for the aboveground telecom network are Rs 10,000 per mobile tower and Rs 1,000 per km for overground telecom lines. Installing poles, small cells and telecom lines won’t attract application fees. Further, a few definitions have been revised. For example, the definition of “street furniture” has been broadened to include metro lines and pillars, sign boards, hoardings and kiosks, while a “pole” is now described as an aboveground mast (excluding a mobile tower) with a height of up to 13 metres. The definition of mobile towers too has been overhauled as “any above-ground contrivance, including that which may be dismantled and reassembled at another location, used for carrying, suspending or supporting a telecommunication network, but does not include a pole”. Subsequently, in November 2024, all the states/union territories were mandated to follow the RoW rules notified under the Telecommunications Act. This was done to create a homogeneous RoW structure within the country.
Concomitantly, the government is considering geotagging key telecom infrastructure by 2027 to facilitate coordination, particularly in disaster situations. This data will also be utilised for development projects across the country.
In-building solutions
The government’s flagship production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom and networking products set the base for creating a robust foundation for the telecom sector in February 2021. The products included in the scheme were transmission equipment, 4G/5G, next-gen RAN and wireless equipment, access and customer premises equipment, IoT access devices, and other wireless equipment and enterprise equipment such as switches and routers. Further, in December 2024, it was reported that DoT is advocating for an expansion of the PLI scheme for telecom equipment and network products to further localise the manufacturing of key equipment and capture the global demand for 4G and 5G gears. Another key initiative in June 2024 by DoT was to instruct telecom operators to employ more in-building solutions (IBS) at airports so that customers can enjoy access to an uninterrupted network. Additionally, DoT, in collaboration with the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, released the Disaster Risk and Resilience Assessment Framework in February 2025 to foster the formation of a disaster-resilient telecom ecosystem. On the regulatory front, the draft Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules, 2025 were introduced at the beginning of the year. The draft rules empower citizens to demand data erasure, appoint digital nominees and access user-friendly mechanisms to manage their data. They also restrict transfer of personal data outside India by a significant data fiduciary. Further, in February 2025, TRAI released its recommendations on the terms and conditions of network authorisations to be granted under the Telecommunications Act, 2023. Among other things, it recommended that any entity planning to establish, operate, maintain, or expand dark fibre, RoW, duct space and towers should seek infrastructure provider (IP) authorisation from the central government. It added that the central government must introduce digital connectivity infrastructure provider (DCIP) authorisation under Section 3(1)(b) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023. With regard to IBS within a single building/compound, there should be no requirement of obtaining any authorisation from the central government.
Some state governments also did their bit to strengthen IBS in their region. For instance, Meghalaya came up with the Meghalaya Telecom Infrastructure (Amendment) Policy, 2024 (effective March 1, 2024) to streamline the process of application and granting of permission for installation of mobile towers as well as to fast-track the roll-out of 5G infrastructure on street furniture, and laying of underground and overground optical fibre cable (OFC), IBS, and other telecom infrastructure with time-bound provisions. Meanwhile, in September 2024, Maharashtra’s Urban Development Department proposed the creation of common telecom infrastructure in the state, and directed waterproof telecom infrastructure for new buildings.
Enhancing rural connectivity
It is estimated that rural telephone connections rose from 377.78 million in March 2014 to 527.34 million in October 2024. As per data available with the government, 95.15 per cent Indian villages have access to the internet with 3G/4G mobile connectivity. Meanwhile, the government asked home-grown start-ups and research and development (R&D) institutions to submit proposals under its “5G Intelligent Village” initiative in June 2024. Select villages across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were considered for this pilot project. Concomitantly, various schemes/projects are being implemented under the Digital Bharat Nidhi for the expansion of telecom connectivity through installation of mobile towers in rural, remote and hilly areas of the country. This includes the opening of bids for BharatNet Phase III in August 2024, which aims to enable high speed internet connectivity in all gram panchayats in India. To add to this, in January 2025, the National Broadband Mission 2.0 was launched to augment rural connectivity. It aims to ensure that at least 60 out of every 100 rural households have access to broadband connectivity and achieve a minimum fixed broadband download speed of 100 Mbps, among others.
Emerging areas: Data centres and satcom
In August 2024, media reports stated that the government may revisit its 2020 draft Data Centre Policy and data centres could soon be awarded infrastructure status at par with other sectors such as railways, ports, roads and power. Further, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is considering offering incentives to companies looking to establish cutting-edge machine learning (ML) and AI data centres. Several states across the country already have their local data centre policies in place. A case in point is the Karnataka Data Centre Policy 2022-27 which outlines lucrative incentives to entice investments and propel growth in the state’s data centre sector. Further, Chhattisgarh’s Industrial Development Policy, 2024 includes special subsidy and incentive packages for data centres.
Meanwhile, satellite communication (satcom) is redefining connectivity as satellites are not prone to damages during calamities, unlike their terrestrial counterparts. In May 2024, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) unveiled guidelines for rationalising the process for non-government entities to undertake various space activities. Further, in July 2024, DoT constituted stakeholders’ advisory committees (SACs) on satellite communication and internet service providers, and infrastructure providers. In October 2024, the communications minister announced that spectrum for satellite services will be allocated administratively. Finally, the TRAI’s network authorisation recommendations also call for introducing Internet Exchange Point [IXP] Authorisation and Satellite Earth Station Gateway Provider Authorisation under Section 3(1)(b) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
Conclusion
The government has taken several initiatives to promote the creation of a robust digital infrastructure ecosystem in India. Industry experts believe that as per the new definition of mobile towers, they will be exempt from property tax levy and this will be a big breather for the sector. Moreover, creating uniform RoW governance would address the issue of differential costs for seeking permissions and installing telecom infrastructure across different states. Further, according to government data, the Gati Shakti Sanchar portal (developed for the submission of RoW applications) has successfully streamlined approvals in a time-bound manner, bringing down the average disposal time of applications from 448 days in 2019 to about 60 days in 2024. Additionally, the constitution of SACs has created an important platform for industry stakeholders to be a part of inclusive decision-making. That said, some analysts have reservations regarding certain aspects of digital infrastructure. While a few opine that the draft DPDP Act risks causing unintended uncertainty about international data transfers, others believe that satellite spectrum should be auctioned. As this sector grows, more regulations are expected to bolster digital infrastructure in India.
