Digital India

Digital India: 82 crore people are using internet, high speed broadband reached in 157383 panchayats

Cisco's 'Visual Networking Index (VNI)' in a report in 2017 had said that the number of active Internet users in India could reach 82 million by 2021. The government has told in the Rajya Sabha that at least 820 million people i.e. about 82 crore people are using the internet in the country. 

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has given this information. In fact, Trinamool MP Derek O'Brien asked in the Rajya Sabha whether the government has estimated the latest level of internet or any such proxy. It was also informed by the government that high-speed internet facility has been provided in 1,57,383 gram panchayats of the country.

Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajiv Chandrashekhar said, "As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), there are 82.53 crore (825.301 million) internet subscribers in the country as of March 31, 2021." He further said that in rural India more than 302 million people are using the internet, while in urban India this number is more than 502 million.

He also said that the government has implemented BharatNet project in all gram panchayats and villages of the country to increase internet penetration in rural India. A total of 1,57,383 gram panchayats have been connected with high-speed internet/broadband infrastructure as on 1st July. According to Rajiv, 5,25,706 km of optical fiber has been laid in the country so far.

There will be 90 million active internet users in the country by 2025. IAMAI-Center Cube has said in a report in June this year that by 2025, the number of active internet users in the country will increase by 45 percent to 90 million. Last year, this figure in the country was 622 million. The report said that even though the internet penetration in urban India is twice that of rural areas, the number of internet users growing year on year in rural areas is more than in urban areas.