India's 5G Users to Surpass 1 Billion by 2030, Says Minister Scindia

"India had the fastest 5G rollout in the world. 500,000 towers, Rs 450,000 crore worth of capex. In a short period of four years, 400 million consumers. And our 5G consumers will go from 400 million to over a billion by 2030," the Minister said.

"And that's why I say we followed the world on 4G. We marched with the world on 5G. But we will lead the world in 6G. Similarly, the case with our DPI infrastructure, our United Payments Interface. Think about it, 20 billion transactions a month. USD 3.4 trillion dollars exchanged over our UPI infrastructure," the Minister said.

Scindia also outlined the transformation of India Post into a logistics powerhouse. He projected that the department, which recorded revenues of Rs 13,280 crore in the 2024-25 fiscal, would show double-digit growth in the latest fiscal. He stated that the department aimed to transition from a "government cost centre to a profit center by the year 2029-30."

The Minister explained that India reached an inflection point in its growth curve. He cited the Rs 1.39 lakh crore BharatNet program as a unique initiative where 55 per cent of the funds went toward operational expenses to maintain fibre connectivity across every village for ten years.

Addressing the conclave, the Minister highlighted that the country transitioned into a resilient growth paradigm driven by a "3S" framework consisting of Stability, Scalability, and Strategic Autonomy.

Scindia explained that India now focuses on long-term steps to impact the lives of 140 crore people across the country.

"Over the last decade, under the Prime Minister's leadership, we have evolved a framework to be able to deliver on this qualitative as well as quantitative, resilient growth paradigm. And that framework, ladies and gentlemen, is the 3S framework. The first S is stability. The second S is scalability. And the third S is strategic autonomy," Scindia said.

Addressing the scale of development, Scindia highlighted that "India is growing on a decadal CAGR growth rate at the highest rate across the world". He pointed to the expansion of physical infrastructure, including the construction of national highways at a rate of "34 kilometres per day". The Minister also noted that the number of airports increased from 74 to 160 within a decade.

"If you look at the area of railways, in another three years, we'll have a wider, deeper, speedier railway system than the United States of America. So infrastructure today, the physical infrastructure, one that you can see with the naked eye, today is at a world-class level and world-class execution level in India," Scindia said.

The Minister detailed social sector progress, stating that "250 million Indians moved out of multi-dimensional poverty." He also mentioned the world's largest health program, which included 410 million Ayushman cardholders guaranteed with a Rs 5 lakh health cover.

He attributed these shifts to the move from "fragmented markets to unified platform" that reinforced citizen confidence through scale and speed.

"Government's role is no longer to be a regulator. Government's role now is to be a facilitator, to partner with you to reach your potential," Scindia said.

- ANI