India’s 5G network has achieved a significant milestone, reaching 86 per cent of the population, with approximately 500 million customers actively using the technology. This information was confirmed by Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia during his address at the Kautilya Economic Conclave in New Delhi on October 5, 2026.

Scindia highlighted the rapid growth of telecom connectivity in India, stating that 5G services are now available in 99.9 per cent of the country’s districts. He described the current rollout as the fastest expansion of 5G observed globally.

The Minister outlined the government’s ambition to double the number of 5G users to 1 billion by 2030. He emphasised that this growth is crucial not only for telecom services but also for enhancing the broader digital economy.

5G’s Role In The Digital Economy

Scindia discussed the transformative impact of 5G on various sectors, noting its capability to connect advanced technologies, automated systems, and facilitate seamless transactions. He characterised telecom connectivity, computing, and trust as foundational elements of the new digital infrastructure.

He also depicted the mobile phone as a new paradigm in banking, asserting that the telecommunications network now acts as a “digital highway”. In this framework, data is viewed as critical fuel for the artificial intelligence economy.

In the context of connectivity growth, the Minister shared impressive statistics, revealing that broadband subscriptions surged from 60 million in 2014 to over 1 billion currently, while internet users rose from 250 million to nearly 1.2 billion. India now boasts 1.35 billion mobile subscribers.

Expansion Of Digital Financial Services

The ongoing expansion of connectivity is significantly bolstering digital financial services across the nation. Scindia provided insights into the unified payments interface (UPI), which commenced with 21 banks and handled 90,000 transactions monthly, and has evolved to incorporate over 740 banks today.

In the fiscal year 2025-2026, UPI recorded a staggering 21,500 crore transactions, averaging 20 billion transactions per month, amounting to 260 billion annually, and facilitating transactions worth approximately $3.4 trillion.

Scindia discussed the future trajectory of digital development, which he stated would integrate telecom networks with computing and AI capabilities. He noted that the India AI Mission has allocated a budget of roughly Rs 10,000 crore. This initiative includes the establishment of 38,000 GPUs, collaborations with 14 cloud partners, alongside 7,500 data sets and over 250 AI models.

With the convergence of 5G connectivity and computational resources, Scindia expressed optimism about enhancing access to digital opportunities for the populace. However, he also underscored the pressing need for robust digital security measures as connectivity and digital transactions proliferate, advocating for proactive fraud detection strategies.

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