More than 2.21 lakh Gram Panchayats across the country have been made service-ready under the BharatNet project, while 5.01 lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs) are delivering digital services nationwide as the Centre continues to expand digital infrastructure and citizen-centric services under the Digital India programme.
Launched in July 2015, the Digital India programme seeks to strengthen digital infrastructure, deliver government services electronically and empower citizens through digital literacy and employment. The government said the programme is being implemented through a whole-of-government approach to make digital services more efficient, transparent and accessible, particularly in rural and remote areas.
Sharing details in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Jitin Prasada, said the programme has significantly expanded internet connectivity, digital public infrastructure, digital governance and digital skilling across the country.
Internet and broadband expansion
India’s telecom and internet penetration has grown sharply over the past decade. Total telephone connections increased from 93.3 crore in March 2014 to more than 133 crore in March 2026.
Internet subscribers rose from 25.15 crore in March 2014 to 109.27 crore in March 2026.
Under BharatNet, around 2.21 lakh Gram Panchayats had been made service-ready as of June 2026 to provide high-speed broadband connectivity in rural India.
In Tamil Nadu, 9,280 Gram Panchayats are service-ready under BharatNet, including 210 Gram Panchayats in Dharmapuri district.
The government also said 257 mobile towers have been commissioned in Tamil Nadu under the Government-funded 4G Saturation Project and other mobile connectivity initiatives.
Across the country, 24,784 towers have been commissioned under the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN)-funded mobile scheme as of June 30, 2026.
Under the scheme, Tamil Nadu had 356 towers planned to cover 445 villages. Of these, 257 towers are operational, providing connectivity to 308 villages. In Dharmapuri district, 14 towers were planned for 22 villages, with 11 towers commissioned covering 19 villages.
The Centre has disbursed Rs 1,886 crore under various ongoing Digital Bharat Nidhi projects in Tamil Nadu.
Digital public infrastructure
The government said affordable mobile data, assisted digital access points and interoperable digital public platforms have transformed access to welfare schemes, digital payments, education and governance.
Mobile data prices have fallen from Rs 269 per GB in 2014 to around Rs 8-10 per GB in 2025-26, making India one of the world’s most affordable data markets.
More than 1.44 billion Aadhaar numbers have been generated across the country, including over 8.18 crore in Tamil Nadu.
The Aadhaar-enabled Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) ecosystem now covers 318 schemes implemented by 56 ministries. According to the government, more than Rs 52 lakh crore has been transferred directly into beneficiaries’ bank accounts.
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) now serves more than 55.49 crore users, 6.5 crore merchants and 731 banks.
The government said UPI accounts for nearly 85 per cent of India’s digital payment transactions and almost 50 per cent of global real-time digital payments.
DigiLocker has over 71.66 crore registered users and more than 936.03 crore digital documents issued by 2,822 onboarded issuers. In Tamil Nadu, more than 2.18 crore Aadhaar-enabled registrations have been completed to access DigiLocker services.
The UMANG platform provides citizens access to 2,575 government services through a single mobile application, including 17 services integrated by the Tamil Nadu government.
The e-Sanjeevani telemedicine platform has provided healthcare consultations to more than 48 crore patients nationwide, including over 4 crore consultations in Tamil Nadu.
The government also highlighted the National Language Translation Mission (BHASHINI), describing it as a public digital platform aimed at breaking language barriers and promoting linguistic inclusion in digital services.
Common Service Centres
The Common Service Centre network continues to provide last-mile delivery of digital services through Village Level Entrepreneurs.
More than 800 government and business services are currently available through CSCs.
As of May 2026, there were 5.01 lakh functional CSCs across the country, including 3.91 lakh operating at the Gram Panchayat level.
Tamil Nadu has 18,240 functional CSCs, including 12,112 at the Gram Panchayat level, while Dharmapuri district has 498 CSCs, of which 412 are located in rural Gram Panchayats.
Digital literacy and skilling
The government said Digital India is focused not only on expanding access to technology but also on building digital capabilities.
The Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA), one of the world’s largest digital literacy programmes, has trained more than 6.39 crore people nationwide against its target of six crore. In Tamil Nadu, over 14 lakh people were trained under the scheme, including 64,813 in Dharmapuri district. The programme concluded on March 31, 2024.
FutureSkills Prime, a joint initiative of the government and NASSCOM, has registered more than 34 lakh candidates, with over 23 lakh enrolled or trained in emerging technology courses. More than 5.81 lakh candidates from Tamil Nadu have participated in the programme.
The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) has trained over 31.92 lakh candidates during the last three financial years through its 56 centres and more than 9,000 partner institutes.
NIELIT has a centre in Chennai and over 35 partner institutes across Tamil Nadu. More than 37,500 candidates have been trained in the state during the last three years.
The NIELIT Digital University platform, which offers online and blended courses in areas such as Artificial Intelligence and cybersecurity, has registered more than 2.75 lakh candidates.
The government also highlighted Tamil Nadu’s e-Sevai portal, developed by the Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency, which enables end-to-end online delivery of a wide range of citizen-centric government services without manual intervention.
Budget
The government said Digital India is an umbrella programme comprising projects implemented by various central ministries, departments and state governments, each with separate budgetary provisions.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology implements eight Central Sector sub-schemes under the programme, and no state-wise budget allocation is made for these schemes.
The information was shared by Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on August 5.
