PM Modi Celebrates 10 Years of Digital India: A Decade of Transformation, Empowerment, and Global Digital Leadership
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday marked the tenth anniversary of the Digital India initiative, hailing it as a transformative journey that has not only redefined governance but also empowered citizens across the nation and positioned India as a global frontrunner in digital innovation.
In a post on the social media platform X, PM Modi described the milestone as a historic moment in India’s digital evolution.
Today is a historic day as we mark #10YearsOfDigitalIndia! What began as a vision to empower the nation through technology has now become a mass movement, touching every aspect of life for 140 crore Indians,” he wrote.
From Vision to Reality: A Decade of Digital Empowerment
Launched in 2015, the Digital India mission was conceived to bridge the deep digital divide that existed across the country, particularly between urban centers and remote regions.
The aim was to build a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy by ensuring the benefits of technology reached every citizen.
Reflecting on the journey, the Prime Minister noted that India’s digital revolution is no longer confined to data charts or dashboards—it is visible in the everyday lives of its people.
“Where once there was doubt about Indians’ ability to adapt to technology, we placed our trust in them—and they proved us right,” he shared in an article posted on LinkedIn.
Achievements That Define the Decade
The last ten years have seen an exponential rise in digital connectivity. In 2014, India had around 25 crore internet users. Today, that number has surged past 97 crore. High-speed internet has now reached the remotest corners of the country—from tribal hamlets to high-altitude military outposts.
India’s digital backbone has expanded to include over 4.2 million kilometers of Optical Fibre Cable, a distance that is nearly eleven times the stretch from Earth to the Moon. This infrastructure has played a critical role in enabling services and connectivity at an unprecedented scale.
Among the standout achievements is the success of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which now processes over 100 billion transactions annually, contributing to nearly half of the global real-time digital payment volume. UPI’s ease of use has revolutionized how Indians transact, from metropolitan cities to small towns and rural markets.
Through Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT), the government has disbursed over ₹44 lakh crore directly into beneficiaries’ accounts, eliminating middlemen and ensuring transparency. This has led to savings of nearly ₹3.48 lakh crore in leakage and fraud.
Schemes like SVAMITVA have also made significant strides, issuing over 2.4 crore property ownership cards and mapping more than 6.4 lakh villages, offering long-overdue security and dignity to rural landowners.
Empowering Small Businesses and Startups
The digital economy has opened new frontiers for small traders, artisans, and entrepreneurs. Initiatives like the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) have democratized access to markets.
ONDC recently surpassed 200 million transactions, offering a platform for small sellers to connect directly with customers across the country, bypassing digital monopolies. Similarly, GeM recorded over ₹1 lakh crore in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) in just 50 days—an unprecedented feat in public procurement.
“From Banarasi weavers to bamboo artisans of Nagaland, sellers are now able to connect with buyers nationwide, unlocking income and dignity without the burden of middlemen,” the Prime Minister said.
India as a Global Digital Public Infrastructure Leader
PM Modi also emphasized India’s leadership in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), citing global models like Aadhaar, CoWIN, DigiLocker, and FASTag. These platforms are now being studied and replicated by other countries, and India recently launched a Global DPI Repository during its G20 Presidency to facilitate international collaboration in this domain.
He stressed that India’s digital journey is now evolving from “digital governance to global digital leadership, from India-first to India-for-the-world.”
With flagship efforts like the $1.2 billion India AI Mission and the establishment of new Centres of Excellence, the country is poised to lead in future-facing domains like artificial intelligence and next-generation commerce.
A Call to Innovate, Unite, and Empower
Looking ahead, Prime Minister Modi urged India’s technology ecosystem—innovators, entrepreneurs, developers, and researchers—to continue building solutions that are inclusive, transformative, and rooted in Indian values.
