Digital India targets trillion-dollar growth with AI, semiconductors and quantum technologies

Digital India enters next phase of digital transformation with advanced technologies

As the Digital India programme completes 11 years on July 1, India is preparing to enter the next phase of its digital transformation with artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum technologies expected to become key engines of economic growth over the coming decade. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Secretary S Krishnan announced that the digital ecosystem built over the past decade has laid a strong foundation for India's ambition of becoming a developed economy under Viksit Bharat 2047, with future investments increasingly directed towards advanced technologies, domestic manufacturing and globally scalable Digital Public Infrastructure 1

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According to MeitY, Digital India has evolved from a programme focused on connectivity into one that powers governance, financial inclusion, manufacturing and innovation at population scale. India today has over 102.86 crore internet connections, 99.56 crore broadband subscribers, and 5G services covering 99.9 per cent of districts, while the cost of one GB of mobile data has dropped from around Rs 270 in 2014 to Rs 8-10, making India one of the world's most affordable digital economies 2

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UPI and digital payments emerge as global benchmark for India's growth story

The country's digital payments ecosystem has emerged as a global benchmark, with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) now processing around 24,162 crore transactions annually, valued at nearly Rs 314 lakh crore, with about 75 crore transactions taking place every day. MeitY noted that India accounts for nearly half of all real-time digital payments globally, while the International Monetary Fund has recognised UPI as the world's largest real-time payments system. The platform has already been adopted or integrated by nine countries, with India's Digital Public Infrastructure now being shared with 24 countries 1

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. NPCI CEO Dilip Asbe highlighted the next growth phase whereby the effort would be to raise daily transactions to a billion 3

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Financial inclusion has also deepened significantly, with the government transferring over Rs 51.5 lakh crore directly to beneficiaries under 323 Direct Benefit Transfer schemes, virtually eliminating leakages in welfare delivery. Digital governance has expanded rapidly through platforms such as DigiLocker, which now hosts more than 900 crore documents for over 70 crore users 2

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Semiconductors and indigenous development drive manufacturing transformation

The manufacturing ecosystem has witnessed a structural transformation, with India moving from importing more than 75 per cent of its smartphones in 2014 to becoming one of the world's leading smartphone exporters, supported by the Production Linked Incentive scheme. The next phase of this transformation will be driven by semiconductors, with MeitY announcing that 12 semiconductor projects worth nearly Rs 1.65 lakh crore have already been approved under the Semicon India Programme, while India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 is expected to accelerate fresh investments 1

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Marking a major milestone, CG Semi's semiconductor facility at Sanand, Gujarat, is set to be inaugurated this week. The plant, one of India's first commercial Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test facilities, will undertake chip assembly, packaging, testing and post-test services, significantly strengthening the domestic semiconductor value chain, reducing import dependence and positioning India as a global hub for semiconductor packaging 3

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IndiaAI Mission and National Quantum Mission accelerate artificial intelligence capabilities

Artificial intelligence is expected to become the next growth frontier for indigenous development. Under the IndiaAI Mission, with an outlay exceeding Rs 10,000 crore, the government is creating shared AI computing infrastructure, supporting 15 indigenous foundation models, and making high-performance computing available at just Rs 65 per hour to startups, researchers and enterprises. Parallel investments under the Rs 6,003.65 crore National Quantum Mission and the National Supercomputing Mission are expected to further strengthen India's deep-tech capabilities 2

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Last week, S Krishnan met US Under Secretary of State Jacob Helberg at the Pax Silica Summit seeking clarifications over continuity in sharing latest AI technology. "We sought an understanding of how exactly the US is looking at this particular aspect and what their concerns are and how, in the future, this could be a reliable source of technology, because if it is something which is to be used and made available, we can't have abrupt cutoffs," he said 3

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Quantum computing and cybersecurity focus positions India as global technology creator

MeitY said the next chapter of Digital India will focus on expanding indigenous capabilities in AI, semiconductors, quantum computing and cybersecurity while strengthening digital trust and data protection. With India climbing from 81st to 38th in the Global Innovation Index over the past decade and more than 2,100 Global Capability Centres employing 23.6 lakh professionals, the ministry said the country's digital transformation is increasingly positioning India not just as a technology adopter, but as a global technology creator and exporter 1

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. This strategic focus on advanced technologies aims to reinforce India's vision of achieving developed economy status and support the nation's trillion-dollar growth ambitions in the coming decade.