digital media role in transforming india essay

Transforming India through Digital Innovation

Darshan yadunath.

Summer Intern

Join the Conversation

• Share on mail
• comments added

Call us @ 08069405205

Search Here

• An Introduction to the CSE Exam
• Personality Test
• Annual Calendar by UPSC-2024
• Common Myths about the Exam
• About Insights IAS
• Our Mission, Vision & Values
• Director's Desk
• Meet Our Team
• Our Branches
• Careers at Insights IAS
• Daily Current Affairs+PIB Summary
• Insights into Editorials
• Insta Revision Modules for Prelims
• Current Affairs Quiz
• Static Quiz
• Current Affairs RTM
• Insta-DART(CSAT)
• Insta 75 Days Revision Tests for Prelims 2024
• Secure (Mains Answer writing)
• Secure Synopsis
• Ethics Case Studies
• Insta Ethics
• Weekly Essay Challenge
• Insta Revision Modules-Mains
• Insta 75 Days Revision Tests for Mains
• Secure (Archive)
• Anthropology
• Law Optional
• Kannada Literature
• Public Administration
• English Literature
• Medical Science
• Mathematics
• Commerce & Accountancy
• Monthly Magazine: CURRENT AFFAIRS 30
• Content for Mains Enrichment (CME)
• InstaMaps: Important Places in News
• Weekly CA Magazine
• The PRIME Magazine
• Insta Revision Modules-Prelims
• Insta-DART(CSAT) Quiz
• Insta 75 days Revision Tests for Prelims 2022
• Insights SECURE(Mains Answer Writing)
• Interview Transcripts
• Previous Years' Question Papers-Prelims
• Answer Keys for Prelims PYQs
• Solve Prelims PYQs
• Previous Years' Question Papers-Mains
• UPSC CSE Syllabus
• Toppers from Insights IAS
• Testimonials
• Felicitation
• UPSC Results
• Indian Heritage & Culture
• Ancient Indian History
• Medieval Indian History
• Modern Indian History
• World History
• World Geography
• Indian Geography
• Indian Society
• Social Justice
• International Relations
• Agriculture
• Environment & Ecology
• Disaster Management
• Science & Technology
• Security Issues
• Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude

• Indian Heritage & Culture
• Enivornment & Ecology

Insights EDITORIAL ANALYSIS : The Digital India Transformation

Source: The Indian Express

• Prelims: 4G, 5G, Governance(Adhar, UIDAI, KYC,Bharatnet, CSCs, drones.
• Mains GS Paper II: Digital India, Important aspects of governance(e governance, accountability), Application of drones.

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

• Recently the Prime Minister said that Digital India is a transformative programme to deliver that every Indian must have a smartphone in his hand and every field must be covered by a drone ”.
• Digital technology must be low-cost, developmental, inclusive, and substantially home-grown and it should bridge the digital divide and usher in digital inclusion.

INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE

Digital India:

• It is an umbrella program to prepare India for a knowledge-based transformation.
• It weaves together a large number of ideas and thoughts into a single comprehensive vision so that each of them is seen as part of a larger goal.
• It has been launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity).
• Vision of Digital India:
• Digital infrastructure as Utility to Every Citizen
• Governance and services on demand
• Digital empowerment of citizens

Initiatives Under Digital India:

• It establishes a link between Government and Citizens towards meeting the goal of good governance.
• It encourages citizens as well as people abroad to participate in various activities i.e. ‘Do’, ‘Discuss’, ‘Poll’, ‘Talk’, ‘Blog’, etc.
• DigiLocker :

It serves as a platform to enable citizens to securely store and share their documents with service providers who can directly access them electronically.

• e-Hospital-Online Registration Framework (ORF):
• It is an initiative to facilitate the patients to take online OPD appointments with government hospitals.
• This framework also covers patient care, laboratory services and medical record management.
• National Scholarships Portal (NSP):

It provides a centralized platform for application and disbursement of scholarship to students under any scholarship scheme.

• It is an online tool that can be used to monitor and analyze the implementation of critical and high priority projects of the State.
• It facilitates presentation of real time data on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of selected schemes/projects to the senior functionaries of the State Government as well as district administration.
• PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation):
• It started a culture of Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation.
• It is also a robust system for bringing e-transparency and e-accountability with real-time presence and exchange among the key stakeholders.
• Common Services Centres 2.0 (CSC 2.0) :
• They are implemented to develop and provide support to the use of information technology in rural areas of the country.
• The CSCs are Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enabled kiosks with broadband connectivity to provide various Governments, private and social services at the doorstep of the citizen.
• Mobile Seva:

It provides government services to the people through mobile phones and tablets.

• BharatNet Project
• BharatNet is a flagship mission implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Ltd. (BBNL).
• It is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) set up by the Government of India under the Companies Act, 1956 with an authorized capital of Rs 1000 crore.
• It is being implemented by the Department of Telecommunication under the Ministry of Communications.
• It aims to facilitate the delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking, Internet and other services to rural India.
• It aims to connect all the 2,50,000 Gram panchayats in the country and provide 100 Mbps connectivity to all gram panchayats.

Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme:

• It has been visioned as an aid for simpler and faster flow of information and funds to the beneficiaries and to reduce the fraud in the delivery system.
• Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System (CPSMS ), the earlier version of the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), of the Office of Controller General of Accounts, was chosen to act as the common platform for routing of the Direct Benefit Transfer.
• Components of DBT:
• Beneficiary Account Validation System
• A robust payment and reconciliation platform integrated with RBI, NPCI, Public & Private Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Cooperative Banks (core banking solutions of banks, settlement systems of RBI, Aadhaar Payment Bridge of NPCI) etc.
• Schemes involving DBT:
• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
• National Food Security Mission
• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana
• Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin
• Atal Pension Yojana
• National AYUSH Mission.etc

e-Governance(electronic governance):

• It can be defined as the application of information and communication technology (ICT) for providing government services, exchange of information, transactions, integration of previously existing services and information portals.
• It includes the publishing of policy and program-related information to transact with citizens.
• It extends beyond the provision of online services and covers the use of IT for strategic planning and reaching the development goals of the government.

Benefits of e-governance:

Challenges to E-Governance:

Jan-Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) trinity:

• JAM, derived from Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile, combines bank accounts for the poor.
• It eliminates leakage in the transfer of benefits and enabling the poor to have bank accounts are worthy objectives of JAM.
• Aadhaar being the pivot here, allows the government to ensure that benefits reach the poor and enables them to make payments through ordinary mobile phones.
• JAM ensures seamless transfer of welfare payments and facilitates the making payments in real time.
• It is believed that the JAM revolution can link all Indians into one common financial, economic, and digital space.
• It is a terminology for Unmanned Aircraft (UA).
• They were originally developed for the military and aerospace industries, drones have found their way into the mainstream because of the enhanced levels of safety and efficiency they bring.
• A drone’s autonomy level can range from remotely piloted (a human controls its movements) to advanced autonomy, which means that it relies on a system of sensors and LIDAR detectors to calculate its movement.

Application of Drones:

Application of Drones in Agriculture:

SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme:

• It is a collaborative effort of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Panchayati Raj Departments, State Revenue Departments and Survey of India
• It aims to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India.
• It is a scheme for mapping the land parcels in rural inhabited areas using drone technology and Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS).
• The mapping will be done across the country in a phase-wise manner over a period of four years from 2020 to 2024.
• The scheme will enable creation of better-quality Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs), using the maps created under this programme.

National Policy on Electronics 2019:

• It aims to create an ecosystem for the globally competitive ESDM sector by promoting domestic manufacturing and export in the entire electronics system value-chain.
• Providing incentives and support for manufacturing of core electronic components.
• Special package of incentives for mega projects which are extremely high-tech and entail huge investments, such as semiconductor facilities display fabrication, etc.
• Formulation of suitable schemes and incentive mechanisms to encourage new units and expansion of existing units.
• Promotion of Industry-led R&D and innovation in all sub-sectors of electronics, including grass root level innovations and early stage Startups in emerging technology areas such as 5G, Internet of Things (IoT)/ Sensors, Artificial Intelligence (Al), Machine Learning, Virtual Reality (VR), Drones, Robotics, Additive Manufacturing, Photonics, Nano-based devices, etc.
• Providing incentives and support for significantly enhancing availability of skilled manpower, including re-skilling.
• It provides for special thrust on the Fabless Chip Design Industry, Medical Electronic Devices Industry, Automotive Electronics Industry and Power Electronics for Mobility and Strategic Electronics Industry.
• Creation of Sovereign Patent Fund (SPF) to promote the development and acquisition of Intellectual Properties(IPs) in the ESDM sector.
• Promotion of trusted electronics value chain initiatives to improve national cyber security profile.

Schemes for Electronic Manufacturing:

• The Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) for large scale electronics manufacturing.
• The scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS).
• The modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0) Scheme.

Digital Divide:

• Huge gap between users and non-users of e-govt. services.
• The digital divide takes form in rich-poor, male-female, urban-rural etc segments of the population.
• The gap needs to be narrowed down, then only the benefits of e-governance would be utilized equally.

Way Forward

• There are many roadblocks in the way of its successful implementation like digital illiteracy, poor infrastructure, low internet speed, lack of coordination among various departments, issues pertaining to taxation These challenges need to be addressed in order to realize the full potential of this programme.
• Tech solutions empowered by Digital India that has built the infrastructure for years together today serve as a basis for other emerging interventions in the fields of start-ups, digital education, seamless banking and payment solutions, agritech, health tech, smart cities, e-governance and retail management.
• The electronics sector has the potential to become one of the top exports of India in the next 3-5 years. Electronics exports may account for significant contributions to the Indian economy in terms of foreign exchange earnings and employment generation.
• The subsidized purchase of agriculture drones for CHCs/Hi-tech Hubs will make the technology affordable, resulting in their widespread adoption. This would make drones more accessible to the common man in India and will also significantly encourage domestic drone production.

QUESTION FOR PRACTICE

There is a huge gap of digital divide between rural and urban India. In the light of this statement discuss the initiatives by the government to promote digital India and discuss the key features of National Electronic Policy 2019. (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)

Drones have found their way into the mainstream because of the enhanced levels of safety and efficiency they bring. Discuss the application of drones in agriculture. (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)

• Our Mission, Vision & Values
• Director’s Desk
• Commerce & Accountancy
• Previous Years’ Question Papers-Prelims
• Previous Years’ Question Papers-Mains
• Environment & Ecology
• Science & Technology

• Digital India: Revolutionising the Tech Landscape

• Team India Blogs

Launched in 2015, the Digital India program has become a transformative force, altering the pace of India’s growth story while transforming the country into a digitally empowered society and a knowledge-based economy. This vision is being realised through three key pillars: robust digital infrastructure, accessible government services, and empowered citizens.

The foundation of India’s digital transformation lies in building a ubiquitous digital infrastructure to ensure ease of living. The Digital India initiative has been instrumental in achieving this goal, and it has been extended with a total budget of ~INR 14,903 Cr from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

New Digital Services: An era of accessible governance 

Governance has undergone a major revamp, transitioning from cumbersome analogue processes to seamless online platforms. The National e-Governance Division (NeGD) has been playing a pivotal role in this, supporting the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in areas such as programme management, project development, technology management, capacity building, awareness and communications-related activities under the flagship Digital India Programme. NeGD has developed and is managing several National Public Digital Platforms such as DigiLocker, UMANG, Rapid Assessment System, OpenForge, API Setu, Poshan Tracker, National AI Portal, MyScheme, India Stack Global and many others.

To bring transparency in government procurement, the Government has come up with e-Marketplace (GeM), a dedicated platform for different goods & services procured by government organisations/departments/PSUs, offering 11,900 product categories and 321 service categories. Similarly, initiatives like MyGov and UMANG empower citizens with direct access to many government services, streamlining interactions and increasing accountability. Back-end digitisation fosters data-driven decision-making, driving efficient policy formulation and resource allocation. 

Strengthening the digital revolution, initiatives like Aadhaar, the unique digital identity program, have empowered millions with access to essential services and financial inclusion. Aadhaar holders executed ~2 Bn authentication transactions in April 2023, a jump of more than ~19% over April 2022, indicating the growth of the digital economy and usage of Aadhaar in India.

In order to enable citizens to use digital services, high-speed internet connectivity is being extended to even the most remote parts of the country. There are over 888 Mn broadband users in India as of October 31, 2023. With 5,90,020 Common Service Centres (CSCs), including 4,68,773 CSCs in rural areas, India is working on a mission mode to bridge the digital divide. This connectivity underpins a thriving digital economy, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. 

Empowering citizens is at the heart of Digital India. Initiatives like Digilocker provide secure document management, while regional language email services like DataMail bridge the linguistic gap. Pradhan Mantri Grameen Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDisha), the world's largest digital literacy program, equips rural communities with essential digital skills like marketing, e-commerce, finance, and cybersecurity, enabling them to participate fully in the digital economy. Under the scheme, 4,38,570 PMGDisha training centres in India have certified ~47 Mn trainees.

Technologies Catalysing Digitalisation 

Emerging technologies have played a key role in fuelling the growth of the Indian economy. Technologies like cloud computing and artificial intelligence have helped businesses in India become more efficient and productive. By harnessing these technologies, they gain access to predictive analytics that identify trends and customer preferences. An insight into some emerging trends in this field:  

Artificial Intelligence

Integrating AI offers automation in governance and enhanced protection against evolving threats, safeguarding both government and businesses. The Government has also established the IndiaAI initiative to leverage transformative technologies to foster inclusion, innovation, and adoption for social impact. The FY 2022-23 Union Budget also outlined plans to set up three AI centres of excellence in premier educational institutions, a significant step towards making ‘Make AI in India and Make AI work for India’. The initiative aims to foster interdisciplinary research to develop cutting-edge applications and scalable problem solutions in the areas of agriculture, health, and sustainable cities, which will galvanise an effective AI ecosystem and nurture quality human resources in the field. In September 2023, the Government of India, in collaboration with the EKstep Foundation, launched an AI chatbot with PM-Kisan, India’s direct benefit transfer program for farmers, to extend financial help to farmers who own their land. This farmer-friendly bot helps check eligibility and payment status and solve grievances, all with voice commands. Over 5 Lakh farmers used it on day one, depicting the level of penetration and acceptance AI is receiving in India.  The demand and supply gap for digital tech talent is expected to increase by 3.5 times by 2026, making the next 25 years a watershed moment for India to establish itself as a technological and economic powerhouse. Addressing the growing demand for tech talent, MeitY has also set up FutureSkills Prime, in association with the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), to provide cutting-edge skills essential in today's rapidly evolving digital landscape. Owing to the above initiatives and policies, the Stanford AI Index report 2023 ranked India 1st in terms of AI skill penetration rate. 

Blockchain 

Blockchain is a fast-growing technology that presents exciting possibilities to revolutionise the tech landscape in India. It helps secure, inclusive, and transparent transactions for KYC authentication, supply chain, identity management, document verification, record management, healthcare and validation of financial transactions. The emergence of blockchain technology holds promise for the government to foster trust and greater transparency about certain data activities and provide frictionless transactions with the citizens. The Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology is an initiative by the government in this direction to operate as a coordinated, interoperable blockchain ecosystem around the nation. The CoE runs five live chains, including certificate, judiciary, document, logistics, and property blockchains, onboarding 20 centre and state departments, providing seamless digital services to the citizens. 

Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT), a technological platform that integrates several machines with built-in sensors that record real-time data like images, videos, motion, acceleration, and temperature, provides valuable information for businesses and helps small enterprises grow rapidly in India.   IoT is weaving a web of connectivity, offering solutions in healthcare, agriculture, disaster relief, supply chain management, and urban management, such as using IoT-enabled sensors to record the quality of air, water, and soil, using IoT in manufacturing to enable connectivity across machines to ensure higher operational efficiency, connecting multiple devices like cameras, GPS trackers, and mobile devices for a higher influx of real-time data, and more.   The ‘Centre Of Excellence for IoT and AI’ is an initiative by MeitY & NASSCOM in collaboration with the state governments of Karnataka, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, helping deep-tech startups to grow in India by assisting them with funding, incubation, acceleration, mentoring support and enterprise connect. The ‘Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Intelligent Internet of Things (IIoT) Sensors’ at Maker Village, Kochi, is working to catalyse the development of sensors within the realm of Intelligent IoT systems covering a broad spectrum of applications of intelligent sensors in networks, devices and sensor systems. Tech giants are recognising the immense potential of India’s digital market. Google, under the Google for India Digitization Fund, will invest $10 Bn by 2025 to help MSMEs digitise their business operations. Microsoft will skill 1 Lakh developers in India in the latest AI technologies and tools under its AI Odyssey initiative. The company will also invest INR 16,000 Cr to set up 3 more data centres in Telangana, in addition to its first captive data centre of three campuses in early 2022 - taking the number of proposed Microsoft data centres in India to 6. Anchored in growing digitisation needs, skilled tech talent, enabling policy framework and world-class infrastructure, India’s digital journey is poised to make giant strides with these collaborations that bring global expertise and resources.  

The fruits of Digital India are evident in numerous success stories. MyGov’s UMANG app empowers more than 50 Mn users with access to over 1700 government services, while e-Hospital simplifies healthcare access for over 380 Mn registered patients. PMGDisha has transformed rural communities, with over 50 Mn individuals trained and certified in digital skills. Aadhaar, with its 2 Bn authentication transactions per month, stands as a testament to its role in streamlining welfare delivery and promoting financial inclusion. The record-breaking 118 Bn UPI transactions in 2023 highlight the digital transformation of the financial landscape.

These diverse examples paint a vivid picture of Digital India’s revolutionary impact. From improved governance and empowered citizens to a thriving digital economy and a future brimming with technological possibilities, Digital India is paving the way for a more inclusive, prosperous, and digitally connected India.   

• https://digitalindia.gov.in/vision-vision-areas/
• https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1990385
• https://negd.gov.in/about-national-e-governance-division/
• https://gem.gov.in/statistics
• https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1926374
• https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/PR_No.01of2024_0.pdf
• https://csc.gov.in/
• https://www.pmgdisha.in/
• https://indiaai.gov.in/
• https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1895320
• https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2023/12/POV-unlocking-india-potential-with-AI-Nilekani-Bhojwani
• https://futureskillsprime.in/about-us
• https://aiindex.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HAI_AI-Index-Report_2023.pdf
• https://blockchain.gov.in/
• https://blockchain.gov.in/Home/Home
• https://www.meity.gov.in/emerging-technologies-division
• pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1997096
• https://indbiz.gov.in/google-to-invest-us10bn-in-indias-digital-economy/
• https://news.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-launches-ai-odyssey-to-skill-100000-developers-in-india-in-latest-ai-technologies-and-tools/
• https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/microsoft-to-invest-rs-16-000-cr-to-set-up-3-more-data-centres-in-hyderabad-123011901328_1.html
• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.gov.umang.negd.g2c&pli=1
• https://dashboard.ehospital.gov.in/ehospitaldashboard/
• https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1885365
• https://x.com/mygovindia/status/1742526374257230247?s=20

Handpicked Blogs

We are India's national investment facilitation agency.

For further queries on this subject, please get in touch with us @Invest India. Raise your query

• Link copied

How digital transformation will help India accelerate its growth in the coming years

EY India Chief Policy Advisor

A noted economist, D.K. Srivastava is an Honorary Professor at Madras School of Economics and Member of the Advisory Council to the 15th Finance Commission.

Show resources

Economy watch april - 2023, according to the european commission, the pace of digitalization in india was the fastest among most major economies between 2011 and 2019..

• Between 2011 and 2019, digitalization in India grew neck to neck with China at 11%.
• Digitalization in India has been progressing steadily, first covering large urban areas, followed by smaller urban areas and rural areas.
• Digital growth in India is getting a further fillip now and would become a major factor in sustaining India’s long-term growth story.

What is digital economy?

F irst coined in the 1990s, the term digital economy has expanded in consonance with the transforming nature of technology to include digital technologies, products and services across a wide spectrum of sectors. Digitalization is by nature multidimensional. It requires a broad definition to cover all activities that use digitized data as a part of the digital economy (IMF, 2018). Joint collaborative research by Huawei and Oxford Economics pegged the size of the global digital economy to be around US$11 trillion i.e., 15.5% of global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016 1 , which is expected to reach US$23 trillion (24.3% of global GDP) by 2025.

Backward and forward linkages

The ADB (2021) framework for measuring digital economy identifies backward and forward linkages associated with core digital economy. According to this framework, core digital products are classified into five product groups namely: (a) hardware, (b) software publishing, (c) web publishing, (d) telecommunications services, and (e) specialized and support services. It defines digital economy as the contribution of economic transactions that involve both digital products and digital industries to GDP (or Gross Value Added (GVA)). 

Digital products are the goods and services that primarily generate, process, and/or store digitized data. ADB’s framework makes a distinction between the core digital economy with digitally enabling and digitally enabled products. Digitally enabling products reflect backward linkages of the core digital economy while digitally enabled products capture forward linkages. Examples of digitally enabling products include semiconductors used for electrical conductivity that are integral components of computer manufacturing but, by themselves, do not have a direct function in relation to digitized data 2 . Examples of digitally enabled products include car manufacturing, which uses digital components into the vehicles such as in-car entertainment, vehicle systems management, self-driving capabilities etc. Digitally enabled sectors also include media content and retail sales.

As per RBI, industries with the highest forward linkages in India from the aggregate core digital economy in 2019 were construction (6.1%), renting of machinery and equipment (4.2%), food beverages and tobacco (3.8%), textiles and textile products (3.6%), and electrical and optical equipment (3.5%) 2 . 

Quantifying India’s digital leap: overall impact of the Digital India movement

Both the value and volume of digital payments in India have grown at a fast pace in recent months, including the COVID-19 affected months covering the period from November 2019 to January 2023, as shown in Chart 1. The number of digital transactions increased more than three times from 300 crores in November 2019 to 1,052 crores by January 2023. 

The value of total digital payments relative to nominal GDP was 8.7 times the nominal GDP in FY19. Although it fell during the COVID-19 year, this multiple is rising again.

In July 2015, the GoI launched the ‘Digital India’ initiative to improve online infrastructure and increase internet accessibility for citizens, empowering them to become more digitally advanced. This initiative encompasses three key dimensions namely, a) establishing a secure digital infrastructure, b) delivering digital services and c) ensuring that every citizen has access to the Internet. GoI’s persistent effort to digitalize the Indian economy and make India’s population at large participate in it is already showing results. It has considerably reduced the distance between government and citizens by enabling the delivery of substantial services directly to the beneficiary in a transparent and corruption-free manner. In fact, India has emerged as one of the pre-eminent nations of the world to use technology to transform the lives of its citizens 3 . Further, the digitalization drive has also led to a faster formalization of the economy 4 .

Size of digital economy in India

As per the RBI, 5  the share of India’s core digital economy 6  increased from 5.4% of GVA in 2014 to 8.5% in 2019. In US dollar terms, India’s digital economy exhibited a growth rate of 15.6% over the period 2014 to 2019, which was 2.4 times the growth of the Indian economy. Further, the share of digitally dependent economy (digitally enabled sectors) is estimated at 22.4% in 2019.

RBI has also decomposed the overall output multiplier into digital and non-digital output multipliers. The output multiplier is defined as capturing the direct and indirect impact of a unit change in final demand covering digital and non-digital sectors on the economy’s total output. The RBI then estimated separately the digital and non-digital output multipliers for 2014 and 2019. It is shown that while the non-digital output multiplier fell from 1.68 to 1.57 during this period, the digital multiplier increased from 1.34 to 1.50.

A recent study by MeiTY (2019) has estimated the size of India’s digital economy at US$200 billion in 2019, which is expected to rise to US$500 billion by 2025 in their ‘business as usual’ scenario. However, they also point out that potentially, the size of India’s digital economy can be increased up to US$1 trillion by following a set of policy initiatives covering 30 digital themes under 9 national goals: (1) 21st-century IT infrastructure and software capabilities, (2) E-governance of the future, (3) Healthcare for all, (4) Quality education for all, (5) Energy for all, (6) Next-generation financial services, (7) Doubling farmers’ income, (8) Make in digital India, make for India, make for the world and (9) Jobs and skills of the future.

Impact on employment and growth

The RBI report points out that employment in the digital sectors of the Indian economy is still quite limited. Based on India’s current population (2022) and the worker population ratio in 2019-20 as per Periodic Labour Force Survey (at 38.2%), the total employed workers in the core digital economy were estimated at 4.9 million. Among the digital sectors, the highest share of employment at 59.8% is for the computer programming consultancy and related activities followed by telecommunication services at 15.2%.

India’s explosive growth of the digital economy is itself going to serve as a significant enabler of India’s overall economic growth. As compared to developed countries, India’s pace of digitalization has been very high in recent years, particularly over the period from 2011 to 2019 (Table 1). The pace of digitalization as measured by CAGR in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector during this period has been as high as 10.6% with only China exceeding India’s growth marginally. With the advent of 5G and the setting up of semiconductor industries in the country, India is expected to accelerate further its pace of digitalization in the next few decades.

According to a recent study published by ACI Worldwide in collaboration with GlobalData, India is way ahead even in comparison with China in terms of the number of digital payments. According to this source, the number of real time payments in 2021 were at 48.6 billion in India as compared to 18.5 billion in China and 8.7 billion in Brazil. This is indicative of the ease with which the Indian population has adopted digital platforms for making payments even if the average value of such payments may be rather low.

Digitalization as a growth enabler

India is projected to become one of the largest economies by the middle of this century in market exchange rate terms. This has been highlighted in EY’s recent publication titled “ India@100: realizing the potential of US$26 trillion economy ” . In this growth journey, digitalization is expected to play a key role.

How EY can help

Digital tax strategy.

EY’s broad approach to digital tax strategy, covering digital tax effectiveness, digital tax administration, tax technology and tax big data, helps you identify your tax function’s immediate challenges and develop an enhanced operating model strategy fit for the transformative age.

With global tax policy in flux, planning for potential changes in each jurisdiction becomes even more important for multinationals.

Show article references#Hide article references

• Huawei and Oxford Economics (2017), Digital Spillover, Measuring the true impact of the digital  economy, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( https://www.huawei.com/minisite/gci/en/digital-spillover/files/gci_digital_spillover.pdf )
• For definition and methodological details, see ADB (2021), Capturing the Digital Economy: A Proposed Measurement Framework and its Applications.
• https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1885962
• https://rb.gy/6sxsj
• December 2022 monthly bulletin of the RBI
• Constitutes economic activity from ICT goods and digital services producers

Download the full pdf

Related articles.

The growing digitalization of India’s economy may itself serve as a major factor for sustaining a robust growth over a long period of time. Thus, digitalization is a critical and distinguishing feature of India’s unfolding growth story in the 21st century.

About this article

Connect with us

Our locations

Legal and privacy

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients.

EY | Assurance | Consulting | Strategy and Transactions | Tax

EY is a global leader in assurance, consulting, strategy and transactions, and tax services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

© 2020 EYGM Limited. All Rights Reserved.

EYG/OC/FEA no.

This material has been prepared for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as accounting, tax, or other professional advice. Please refer to your advisors for specific advice.

Get our latest newsletter direct to your inbox

Editor’s picks.

Welcome to EY.com

In addition to cookies that are strictly necessary to operate this website, we use the following types of cookies to improve your experience and our services: Functional cookies to enhance your experience (e.g. remember settings), and  Performance cookies to measure the website's performance and improve your experience . , and Marketing/Targeting cookies , which are set by third parties with whom we execute marketing campaigns and allow us to provide you with content relevant to you.

We have detected that Do Not Track/Global Privacy Control is enabled in your browser; as a result, Marketing/Targeting cookies , which are set by third parties with whom we execute marketing campaigns and allow us to provide you with content relevant to you, are automatically disabled.

You may withdraw your consent to cookies at any time once you have entered the website through a link in the privacy policy, which you can find at the bottom of each page on the website.

Review our  cookie policy  for more information.

Customize cookies

I decline optional cookies

How India’s Media Landscape Is Evolving

In Live Mint , BCG’s Shaveen Garg highlights the evolving consumer behaviors that are changing India’s media landscape. A BCG study found that, contrary to industry perception, women, small-town residents, and people over the age of 35 have significant digital influence. “Digital maturity has gone beyond the metros,” says Garg. “And it is time for media companies to realize that they need to address and convince wider audiences to consume their content.”

The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

Digital transformation: supercharging the indian economy and powering an aatmanirbhar bharat.

According to estimates, approximately one million skilled professionals will be required in AI and data science roles alone by 2024. A quick look at the current situation reveals that the country's IT sector employs approximately five million people and generates approximately $225 billion in revenue.

Read More News on

Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.

Why the RBI is closely watching currency derivatives trading

Two reasons why the US Fed won’t spook Indian equities

Media vs tech companies in the age of AI

Safety vs. profitability: Maruti has a new test coming up

Once hyped up as Twitter’s Indian rival, Koo is struggling to stay afloat

How this key Emaar India project landed in an INR900 crore dispute

Find this comment offensive?

Choose your reason below and click on the Report button. This will alert our moderators to take action

Reason for reporting:

Your Reason has been Reported to the admin.

To post this comment you must

Log In/Connect with:

Fill in your details:

Will be displayed

Will not be displayed

Share this Comment:

Uh-oh this is an exclusive story available for selected readers only..

Worry not. You’re just a step away.

Prime Account Detected!

It seems like you're already an ETPrime member with

Login using your ET Prime credentials to enjoy all member benefits

Log out of your current logged-in account and log in again using your ET Prime credentials to enjoy all member benefits.

To read full story, subscribe to ET Prime

₹34 per week

Billed annually at ₹2499 ₹1749

Super Saver Sale - Flat 30% Off

On ET Prime Membership

Unlock this story and enjoy all members-only benefits.

Offer Exclusively For You

Save up to Rs. 700/-

ON ET PRIME MEMBERSHIP

Get 1 Year Free

With 1 and 2-Year ET prime membership

Get Flat 40% Off

Then ₹ 1749 for 1 year

ET Prime at ₹ 49 for 1 month

Stay Ahead in the New Financial Year

Get flat 20% off on ETPrime

90 Days Prime access worth Rs999 unlocked for you

Exclusive Economic Times Stories, Editorials & Expert opinion across 20+ sectors

Stock analysis. Market Research. Industry Trends on 4000+ Stocks

​Get 1 Year Complimentary Subscription of TOI+ worth Rs.799/-​

Stories you might be interested in

The State of India’s Digital Economy Report 2024

Author(s): Dr. Deepak Mishra , Dr. Mansi Kedia , Dr. Aarti Reddy , Mr. Mayank Manish , Ms. Krithika Ramnath

Download Report

Central Message

India’s global ranking significantly improves when the full scope and spectrum of digitalisation is taken into account

Six Takeaways

1. Digitalisation has made dramatic progress, but the way it is being measured has not. 2. Using a new approach, the Connect – Harness – Innovate – Protect – Sustain (CHIPS) framework, the SIDE 204 report benchmarks the scale and depth of India’s digital transformation with respect to G20 countries as well as for the Indian States. 3. India is ranked third at aggregate level and 12th at the user level among the G20 countries, 4. India’s rapid digitalization is being driven by: large base, high growth, facilitated by DPIs, and strong gender and geographical convergence. 5. At the sub-national level, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat and Haryana take the top five spots. Dispersion in the level of digitalisation across Indian states is less than that for G20 countries. 6. Organizations preparing global indices should provide both perspectives – aggregate and average user – to obtain a complete picture of a country’s digitalization.

Team Members

Recent Publications

Reducing Post-Harvest Losses in India: Farmer-Level Interventions and Grain Management Strategies

Implementing MDB Reforms: A Stocktake

Zero Budget Natural Farming: Implications for Sustainability, Profitability, and Food Security

Gender Mainstreaming at India’s Land Ports

@ 2024 ICRIER. All rights reserved.

Is digital diplomacy an effective foreign policy tool? Evaluating India’s digital diplomacy through agenda-building in South Asia

• Original Article
• Published: 09 February 2021
• Volume 18 , pages 128–143, ( 2022 )

Cite this article

• Nisha Garud-Patkar   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0294-311X 1  

907 Accesses

5 Citations

3 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

A question often raised in digital diplomacy literature is whether it is an effective tool in advancing a nation’s foreign policy agendas. Studies exploring this aspect have either taken a theoretical approach or analyzed only government-generated content. Very little attention has been paid to the content receivers. To address this literature gap, this study considers the digital diplomacy of India toward South Asia. Based on the agenda-building perspective, the study examines the following: (i) the agendas the Indian government builds on social media and (ii) the rank-order of these agendas with the agendas of its South Asian followers. Quantitative content analyses of 6000 tweets and status updates published on the 15 Indian diplomatic accounts along with a survey of 387 followers were conducted. Content metrics were also considered to assess prominent agendas. Results showed that a few prominent Indian policy agendas on social media correlated with the agendas of their ‘foreign’ South Asian followers—indicating an agenda-building function. The prominent agendas on social media also aligned with India’s foreign policy priorities in South Asia—indicating effective digital diplomacy at work. A few prominent agendas in terms of content metrics aligned with the foreign followers’ agendas, but none matched with the priority agendas of the Indian government on social media.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

The Role of Political Leadership in Driving Citizens’ Engagement Through Social Media: The Case of Dubai’s Public Sector

Social Media Modalities: Examples and Patterns from the Obama White House

Charting Inclusive Digital Society Research Trends: A Bibliometric Analysis of E-Participation Through Social Media

Abbas, Q. 2020. Freedom of Expression on South Asia . The News. 14 June, https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/671912-freedom-of-expression-in-south-asia . Accessed 23 December 2020.

Abhishek, A. 2020. For Facebook, South and Southeast Asia is only a market . Aljazeera. 13 November, https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/11/13/for-facebook-south-and-southeast-asia-is-only-a-market . Accessed 23 December 2020.

Adesina, O.S. 2017. Foreign policy in an era of digital diplomacy. Cogent Social Sciences 3 (1): 1297175.

Article   Google Scholar  

Ayres, A. 2016. Namaste, world! Why India thinks yoga diplomacy could Save the world. Forbes Asia , 21 June, https://www.forbes.com/sites/alyssaayres/2016/06/21/namaste-world-india-amps - up-its-yoga-diplomacy/#379635cd7d38. Accessed 4 January 2018.

Baker, A. 2008. Afghanistan Unplugs Bollywood's Siren Song. Time . 8 May, http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1738329,00.html . Accessed 4 January 2018.

Berkowitz, D. 1987. TV news sources and news channels: A study in agenda-building. Journalism Quarterly 64 (2–3): 508–513.

Bjola, C. 2015. Introduction: Making sense of digital diplomacy. In Digital diplomacy: Theory and practice , ed. C. Bjola and M. Holmes, 1–9. New York, NY: Routledge.

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Bjola, C. 2016. Getting digital diplomacy right: what quantum theory can teach us about measuring impact. Global Affairs 2 (3): 345–353.

Bjola, C. 2018. Digital Diplomacy: From Tactics to Strategy . American Academy in Berlin. https://www.americanacademy.de/digital-diplomacy-tactics-strategy/ . Accessed 28 December 2020.

Bjola, C., and L. Jiang. 2015. Social media and public diplomacy: A comparative analysis of the digital diplomatic strategies of the EU, US and Japan in China. In Digital diplomacy: Theory and practice , ed. C. Bjola and M. Holmes, 71–89. New York: Routledge.

Bjola, C., and I. Manor. 2018. Revisiting Putnam’s two-level game theory in the digital age: Domestic digital diplomacy and the Iran nuclear deal. Cambridge Review of International Affairs 31 (1): 3–32.

BJP Election Manifesto. 2014. Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat . https://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/archive/01830/BJP_election_manif_1830927a.pdf . Accessed 20 June 2020.

Bretschneider, S., and I. Mergel. 2011. Technology and public management information systems. In The state of public administration: Issues, challenges, and opportunities , ed. D.C. Menzel and H.L. White, 187–203. Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe.

Google Scholar  

Buncombe, A. 2010. How Twitter attack brought down the most popular tweeter in India. The Independent . 19 April, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/how-twitter-attack-brought-down - the-most-popular-tweeter-in-india-1948822.html. Accessed 14 Feb 2019.

Burstein, P. 2020. The Determinants of Public Policy: What Matters and How Much. Policy Studies Journal 48 (1): 87–110.

Chattopadhyay, P. 2011. The politics of India’s neighbourhood policy in South Asia. South Asian Survey 18 (1): 93–108.

Cheng, Z., G.J. Golan, and S. Kiousis. 2016. The second-level agenda-building function of the Xinhua news agency: Examining the role of government-sponsored news in mediated public diplomacy. Journalism Practice 10 (6): 744–762.

Cho, M., T. Schweickart, and A. Haase. 2014. Public engagement with nonprofit organizations on Facebook. Public Relations Review 40 (3): 565–567.

Cobb, R.W., and C.D. Elder. 1971. The politics of agenda-building: An alternative perspective for modern democratic theory. The Journal of Politics 33 (4): 892–915.

Cobb, R., J.K. Ross, and M.H. Ross. 1976. Agenda building as a comparative political process. The American political Science Review 70 (1): 126–138.

Collins, N., and K. Bekenova. 2019. Digital diplomacy: success at your fingertips. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 15 (1): 1–11.

Collins, S.D., J.R. DeWitt, and R.K. LeFebvre. 2019. Hashtag diplomacy: twitter as a tool for engaging in public diplomacy and promoting US foreign policy. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 15 (2): 78–96.

Cull, N.J. 2013. The long road to public diplomacy 2.0: The Internet in US public diplomacy. International Studies Review 15 (1): 123–139.

Das, B. 2011. India has become the number one destination for Afghan students. Al Jazeera . 3 June, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/04/201342211228401708.html . Accessed 5 July 2019.

Desai, R. 2017. How India's leaders tweet with purpose. Forbes . 15 May, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronakdesai/2017/05/15/how-indias-leaders - tweet-with-purpose/#55307ba79cc2. Accessed 5 July 2019.

Destradi, S. 2012. Indian foreign and security policy in South Asia: Regional power strategies . New York, NY: Routledge.

Book   Google Scholar  

De Vries, L., S. Gensler, and P.S. Leeflang. 2012. Popularity of brand posts on brand fan pages: An investigation of the effects of social media marketing. Journal of Interactive Marketing 26 (2): 83–91.

ET Bureau. Manmohan Singh’s second term: 100-day reforms blueprint ready. 2009. Economic Times . 29 May, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/manmohan-singhs-second-term-100-day-reforms-blueprint-ready/articleshow/4553815.cms . Accessed 9 July 2020.

Garud-Patkar, N., and Y. Kalyango Jr. 2017. News stories don’t match political party agendas. Newspaper Research Journal 38 (4): 462–472.

Golan, D. 2017. Foreword. In Shaping international public opinion: A model for nation branding and public diplomacy, ed. J. Fullerton, and A. Kendrick, A., ix-x. New York, NY: Peter Lang.

Gupta, S., R.D. Mullen, R. Basrur, I. Hall, N. Blarel, M.S. Pardesi, S. Ganguly, and S. . 2019. Indian Foreign Policy under Modi: A New Brand or Just Repackaging? International Studies Perspectives 20 (1): 1–45.

Gutta, S. 2016. Top 4 issues for South Asia’s millennials. World Economic Forum. 6 Oct, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/10/top-issues-for - south-asia-millennials/. Accessed 6 July 2019.

Hall, I. 2012. India’s new public diplomacy. Asian Survey 52 (6): 1089–1110.

Hall, I. 2015. Is a ‘Modi doctrine’ emerging in Indian foreign policy? Australian Journal of International Affairs 69 (3): 247–252.

Hanauer, L. and P. Chalk. 2012.  India's and Pakistan's Strategies in Afghanistan: Implications for the United States and the Region . RAND corporation. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt1q6105 . Accessed 5 May 2019.

Hart, J. 2013. Empire of ideas: the origins of public diplomacy and the transformation of US foreign policy . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Heiss, R., D. Schmuck, and J. Matthes. 2019. What drives interaction in political actors’ Facebook posts? Profile and content predictors of user engagement and political actors’ reactions. Information, Communication & Society 22 (10): 1497–1513.

Huang, Z.A., and R. Wang. 2020. ‘Panda engagement’ in China’s digital public diplomacy. Asian Journal of Communication 30 (2): 118–140.

Internet World Stats. (2020). Asia internet use, population statistics data and Facebook data . https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats3.htm#asia . Accessed 23 Dec 2020.

Jaishankar, D. 2016. India’s Five Foreign Policy Goals: Great Strides, Steep Challenges. The Wire. 26 May, https://thewire.in/38708/indias-five - foreign-policy-goals-great-strides-steep-challenges/. Accessed 25 July 2018.

Kalyango, Y. 2008.  Media performance and democratic rule in East Africa: Agenda setting and agenda building influences on public attitudes . Doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri—Columbia. https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10355/5573/research.pdf?sequence=3 . Accessed 21 March 2018.

Kampf, R., I. Manor, and E. Segev. 2015. Digital diplomacy 2.0? A cross-national comparison of public engagement in Facebook and Twitter. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 10 (4): 331–362.

Kim, C., and S.U. Yang. 2017. Like, comment, and share on Facebook: How each behavior differs from the other. Public Relations Review 43 (2): 441–449.

Kiousis, S., and J. Strömbäck. 2010. The White House and public relations: Examining the linkages between presidential communications and public opinion. Public Relations Review 36 (1): 7–14.

Kotoky, M. 2016. Digital Diplomacy in Asia 2016 . http://www.sodd16.com/digital-diplomacy-in-asia-2016-mahurjya-kotoky/ . Accessed 10 May 2019.

Krippendorff, K. 2013. Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Diplomacy Live. 2016. The State of Digital Diplomacy . https://www.gdforum.org/ddcareer-in-international-affairs-1 . Accessed 23 April 2018.

Manor, I. 2015. Is Digital Diplomacy Really Cost Effective?. 21 July 2015, https://digdipblog.com/2015/07/21/is-digital-diplomacy-really-cost-effective/ . Accessed 23 June 2020.

Melissen, J. 2005. The new public diplomacy: Soft power in international relations . New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Naaman, M., Boase, J. and Lai, C.H., 2010, February. Is it really about me? Message content in social awareness streams. In Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work (pp. 189-192).

Natarajan, K. 2014. Digital public diplomacy and a strategic narrative for India. Strategic Analysis 38 (1): 91–106.

O’Boyle, J. 2019. Twitter diplomacy between India and the United States: Agenda-building analysis of tweets during presidential state visits. Global Media and Communication 15 (1): 121–134.

Owen, T. 2015. Disruptive power: The crisis of the state in the digital age . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Pamment, J. 2014. Articulating influence: Toward a research agenda for interpreting the evaluation of soft power, public diplomacy and nation brands. Public Relations Review 40 (1): 50–59.

Pandey, A. 2013. Social media governance in India. 23 April, http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1513/Social-Media-Governance-In-India.html . Accessed 29 July 2018.

Park, S., D. Chung, and H.W. Park. 2019. Analytical framework for evaluating digital diplomacy using network analysis and topic modeling: Comparing South Korea and Japan. Information Processing & Management 56 (4): 1468–1483.

Patel, R. K. 2018. Understanding Bharat-Pakistan Bilateral relations through Cinema. 29 April, http://southasiajournal.net/understanding-bharat-pakistan-bilateral-relations-through-cinema/ Accessed 25 June 2020.

Paul, A. 2019. Bots in Indian Politics . 15 March, https://medium.com/@MANIfication/bots-in-indian-politics-44367fd18eea . Accessed 22 June 2020.

Schutt, R. 2006. Investigating the social world with SPSS student version 14.0: The process and practice of process . Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Sharma, R. 2014. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more: MEA beats all other Modi ministries on social media . First Post. 27 December, https://www.firstpost.com/india/facebook-twitter-youtube-mea-beats-modi-ministries-social-media-2018133.html . Accessed 15 July 2018.

Sharma, L. 2016. Social media as a challenge to traditional Indian diplomacy a medium of communication or a mode of diplomacy. Jindal Journal of International Affairs 4 (1): 102–118.

Sheafer, T., and I. Gabay. 2009. Mediated public diplomacy: A strategic contest over international agenda building and frame building. Political Communication 26 (4): 447–467.

Shukla, D. 2006. India-Nepal relations: Problems and prospects.  The Indian Journal of Political Science , 355–374.

Sinha Palit, P. 2018. India’s Use of Social Media in Public Diplomacy. Public Diplomacy of Rising and Regional Powers 3 (3): 151–171.

Skalski, P.D., K.A. Neuendorf, and J.A. Cajigas. 2017. Content analysis in the interactive media age. In The content analysis guidebook , ed. K.A. Neuendorf, 201–242. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Spry, D. 2018. Facebook diplomacy: A data-driven, user-focused approach to Facebook use by diplomatic missions. Media International Australia 168 (1): 62–80.

Suri, N. 2011. Public diplomacy in India’s foreign policy. Strategic Analysis 35 (2): 297–303.

Swarup, V. 2016. Journeys in digital diplomacy: The Indian experience. http://www.sodd16.com/journeys-in-digital-diplomacy-the-indian-experience - vikas-swarup/. Accessed 23 July 2018.

Wade, M. 2016. Narendra Modi's yoga diplomacy, or how India is winning friends and influencing people. The Sunday Morning Herald . 11 September, http://www.smh.com.au/national/narendra-modis-yoga-diplomacy-or-how - india-is-winning-friends-and-influencing-people-20160909-grcp0u.html. Accessed 29 July 2018.

Williams, C. 2019. Influence of Facebook on Asia’s election season. Global Risks Insights: Know Your World. 23 March, https://globalriskinsights.com/2019/03/facebook-asia-elections-fake-news/ Accessed 23 December 2020.

Yang, A., and A.J. Saffer. 2019. Embracing a network perspective in the network society: The dawn of a new paradigm in strategic public relations. Public Relations Review 45 (4): 101843.

Zaharna, R.S., A. Arsenault, and A. Fisher. 2014. Relational, networked and collaborative approaches to public diplomacy: The connective mindshift . New York, NY: Routledge.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

San Jose State University, 1 Washington Sq, San Jose, CA, 95192, USA

Nisha Garud-Patkar

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nisha Garud-Patkar .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Garud-Patkar, N. Is digital diplomacy an effective foreign policy tool? Evaluating India’s digital diplomacy through agenda-building in South Asia. Place Brand Public Dipl 18 , 128–143 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-021-00199-2

Download citation

Revised : 27 May 2020

Accepted : 15 January 2021

Published : 09 February 2021

Issue Date : June 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-021-00199-2

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Engagement metrics
• Content analysis
• Social media followers
• Indian embassies
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Talk to our experts

1800-120-456-456

• Digital India

The First Step Towards transforming into a Digital India!

Digital India is a massive campaign that the Government of India launched in the year 2015. The implementation of this would give easy access to government services in different regions of the country. This Digital India essay in English is for the students of Class 5 and above. This essay on Digital India in English is written in an easy-to-understand manner for a better understanding of the students. Students should read the following long essay on Digital India to be able to write an essay on Digital India in 1000 words on their own.  

In the same way, the below written short essay on Digital India will help the students write an essay on digital India in 500 words on their own. 

Long Essay on Digital India  

The “Digital India” campaign was launched by the government of India to uplift the usage of technology in India. The objective was to make Government services easily available to the citizens electronically by improving its online infrastructure all over the country. The process would be structured to increase internet connectivity to make the country digitally empowered. It helps to reach out to the masses and encourages them to use technology in their daily lives. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi launched the campaign on July 1, 2015. The initiative aims at connecting rural India with the help of high-speed internet connectivity. 

There are three components at the core of the “Digital India” campaign. 

Creation of Digital Infrastructure  

To be able to deploy various digital services across the country, it is necessary to create a strong digital infrastructure, especially in rural areas of the country. The interior regions of the country either have very little or mostly do not have any electronic network. This is the reason behind establishing a digital network across the country. Bharat Broadband Network Limited, the governmental body that is responsible for the execution of the National Optical Fiber Network project is responsible for the Digital India project as well. Bharat Net aims to connect 2,50,500 gram panchayats across the country to a high-speed internet network via an optical fiber network. 4,00,000 internet points will be established all across the country as part of the program, from which anybody will be able to access the internet. 

Delivery of Digital Service  

A major component of the Digital India campaign is to deliver government services and other essential services digitally. It is easier to change the way of delivering services from physical to digital. Many services of the Government of India were digitized under the Digital India Campaign. 

All ministries would be linked under this scheme, and all departments will be able to reach out to the people with fundamental services like health care, banking, education, scholarships, gas cylinders, water and electricity bills, and judicial services. The daily monetary transactions of people were also converted into digital mode. To ensure transparency in the transactions and curb corruption all the money transactions are being made online, and are supported by one-time passwords. 

Digital Literacy  

For full participation of the people of India, the competency that they need to have is called Digital Literacy. The basic behavior, knowledge, and skills required to effectively use digital devices are mandatory. Desktop PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones are the digital devices used for the purpose of communicating, expressing, collaborating, and advocating. The mission of Digital Literacy will be covering over six crore rural households. 

With the Digital India Programme, the Government of India is hoping to achieve all-around growth on multiple fronts collectively. The objective of the Government is to target the nine ‘Pillars of Digital India’ that are identified as follows. 

Broadband Highways 

Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity 

Public Interest Access Programme 

E-Governance 

E-Kranti 

Global Information 

Electronics Manufacturing 

Training in Information Technology for Jobs 

Early Harvest Programmes

To directly benefit the citizens of all future government schemes. 

The awareness of the importance of technology has been successfully created among the masses of India by the Digital India campaign. There has been a vast growth in the usage of the internet and technology in the past few years. The Panchkula district in Haryana was awarded the best and top performing district under the Digital India campaign on the 28 th of December 2015. 

So far, services such as digital lockers, my government website, e-education, scholarships, pensions, ration cards, PAN cards, Aadhar cards, e-insurance, and e-health have been made accessible under this plan. The goal has been established for the Digital India project to be completely implemented by 2019. 

Technology giants from all over the world paid attention to the Digital India campaign and are readily and happily supporting the initiative. Even Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, had changed his profile picture to support Digital India. He started a trend on Facebook and promised to get the WiFi Hotspots in rural India working. Google started on its commitment to providing broadband connectivity at 500 railway stations in India. Microsoft agreed on providing broadband connectivity to 5,00,000 villages in the country. Microsoft is also making India its cloud hub via the Indian data centers. Oracle planned on investing in 20 states to work on Smart City initiatives and payments. 

Some of the digital frameworks that are established under this scheme are given here: 

Accessible India Campaign and Mobile App  - It is also known as Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan. Its principal goal is to make all services open to individuals with disabilities. 

Mygov.in  - This forum allows users to voice their thoughts on the government's administration strategy. It has been implemented so that locals may actively participate. 

Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG)  - This mobile platform can be used on any device. This software is available in a variety of Indian languages. This software allows users to access a variety of services. Education portals, a digital locker, Aadhar, tax, and train ticket purchasing are among the services available. 

Agri market App  - It was created to make agricultural prices known to farmers and discourage them from selling too soon. 

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao - Ensuring the welfare and nurturing of a girl child and also making sure that every girl child attends school. 

Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) - It makes payments quickly, easily, and simply through the Unified Payment Interface (UPI). It also allows the bank to accept instant payments and money collections using mobile phone numbers. 

Crop Insurance Mobile App - Used to calculate crop insurance premiums depending on numerous characteristics such as area or loan amount, if a loan is taken out. 

E-Hospital - It's an HMIS (Hospital Management Information System) for hospitals' internal workflows and operations. 

E-Pathshala - The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) created it to make all educational resources, such as books and videos, available online. 

EPFO Web Portal and Mobile App - Allow workers to check the amount of their provident fund using an e-passbook, which is a virtual equivalent of a real passbook. 

Start-up India Portal and Mobile App - It is a government of India program to encourage entrepreneurs to develop businesses (start-ups) in the country to expand sustainably. 

Benefits of Digital India

It makes health care and literacy more accessible since one may use a hospital service to receive online registration, a doctor's appointment, payment of the charge, a diagnostic test, and a blood test, among other things. 

It allows consumers to submit their paperwork and certifications online from anywhere, reducing the amount of physical work required. 

Citizens can digitally sign their records online to sign the framework. 

It benefits the beneficiaries of the National Scholarship Portal by allowing them to submit applications, have them verified, and then be paid or disbursed. 

BSNL's next-generation network will replace 30-year-old telephone exchanges for improved administration of online services on mobile devices like voice, data, multimedia, etc. 

Flexible electronics will be promoted with the support of the National Center for Flexible Electronics. 

As all transactions are completed through the digital method, it also aids in the reduction of black marketing. 

Write a Short Essay on Digital India  

A very ambitious initiative called Digital India got launched on a Wednesday, the 1 st of July in the year 2015 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi. Various top industrialists like Cyrus Mistry- the then Tata Group Chairman, Mukesh Ambani– Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance India Limited, Azim Premji– Chairman of Wipro were all present at the launch. They all shared how they plan on bringing a digital revolution to the masses of India in cities and villages. 

The execution of this program is expected to cost around one lakh crore rupees. However, Mr. Ambani, Chairman, and CEO of the Reliance Group have made a significant effort by spending 2.5 lakh crore on the digital India initiative. Many different events were held along with the IT companies to aid more than 600 districts in India. The digital India program was a big step taken by the Government of India to transform India into a digitally empowered country. 

Several schemes have been launched around this plan which are worth more than one lakh crores. They are e-health, e-sign, e-education, national scholarship portal, Digital Locker, etc. The program is such which would benefit both the consumers and the providers of the services. Free WiFi will be available in 2.4 lakh schools and institutions under this scheme so that students may work online without difficulty. A goal has been established for 1.7 lakh persons to be employed as part of this initiative. 

Summary  

A digitally connected India is aimed at the growth of the social and economic status of the masses in the country. The development of non-agricultural economic activities could pave the path for such an achievement, for providing access to financial services, health, and education. Information and Communication Technology alone cannot directly impact the overall development of a country. Basic digital infrastructure could help achieve overall development. 

Literacy and regulatory business environments also could help achieve the same. It will be a very profitable approach because it relieves the burden of spending time on paperwork and allows people to dedicate their time to other aspects of government. It is extremely efficient and beneficial for government employees who operate on a big scale.

FAQs on Digital India

Q1. What is Digital India?

It is an initiative taken by the Government of India to provide government services to citizens electronically, create digitally literate citizens, and eventually transform India into a digitally empowered economy.

Q2. Mention the Benefits of using a Digi Locker.

A Digi Locker eliminates the usage of physical documents and enables the sharing of verified documents electronically in a secure manner across government organizations.

Q3. Which Indians have played a big role in the global digital transformation?

Much like Narendra Modi, who officially launched the Digital India project in India, leaders like Nandan Nilekani, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Ruchi Sanghvi, Ben Gomes, and Rikin Gandhi have put India on the map of digital leaders and have played a big part in the global digital transformation.

Q4. In what areas is India expected to develop even more digitally in the future?

Fields like education, telecommunication, business operations, healthcare, and hospitality are areas where India is slowly but steadily transforming into a digital model.