Telecom, Digital Infrastructure and Water Infrastructure

Telecom: from scarcity to scale

Size: India has about 120 crore telecom subscribers, the second-largest market in the world, and about 95 crore broadband users (TRAI, 2025). Mobile data is among the cheapest in the world, after price competition in 2016 and the years following.

Reforms over time:

• 1994: National Telecom Policy.
• 1997: TRAI was created (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India).
• 1999: the New Telecom Policy introduced revenue sharing in place of fixed licence fees.
• 2000: TDSAT, the telecom tribunal.
• 2012: the Supreme Court cancelled 122 2G licences and mandated auctions for spectrum.
• 2018: the National Digital Communications Policy.
• 2021: a telecom reform package after the AGR (adjusted gross revenue) judgement of 2019, which upheld the government's wider definition of AGR and created dues of about ₹1.5 lakh crore. The package included a moratorium on dues, an option to convert interest into government equity (the government now holds about 49% in Vodafone Idea), and 100% FDI through the automatic route.
• 2023: the Telecommunications Act 2023 replaced the Indian Telegraph Act 1885, the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933 and the Telegraph Wires Act 1950. It provides for:
• administrative allocation of spectrum for satellite communication;
• powers to take over or suspend networks in emergencies;
• right of way reforms;
• the Digital Bharat Nidhi, replacing the Universal Service Obligation Fund.

Market structure: India has three private operators (Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea) and the state-owned BSNL, which received revival packages in 2019, 2022 and 2023 and launched an indigenous 4G stack in 2025. The market is highly concentrated, and Vodafone Idea's survival has been a policy concern.

5G: spectrum was auctioned in 2022 and services launched in October 2022. The roll-out was among the fastest in the world: over 4.5 lakh base stations covering almost all districts. The Bharat 6G Vision (2023) aims for India to be a leading contributor to 6G standards.

Satellite internet: satcom spectrum is allocated administratively under the 2023 Act. Starlink and others received approvals in 2025. Satellite internet is expected to reach remote areas.

Rural connectivity

• BharatNet (launched in 2011 as the National Optical Fibre Network): optical fibre to all 2.5 lakh gram panchayats. Its progress was slow. A revised BharatNet (2023, about ₹1.39 lakh crore) adopted a utility model run by BBNL.
• 4G saturation in uncovered villages, including in Left-Wing Extremism areas.
• PM-WANI (2020): public Wi-Fi through local data offices.

Digital India and digital infrastructure

Digital India (2015) has three pillars:

1. digital infrastructure as a core utility for every citizen;
2. governance and services on demand;
3. digital empowerment of citizens.

Achievements:

• Aadhaar (over 130 crore enrolled);
• UPI;
• DigiLocker;
• CoWIN (the vaccination platform);
• UMANG;
• e-Courts;
• GeM;
• the ONDC;
• the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (health IDs, ABHA).

Data centres and cloud: India's data centre capacity is growing fast, driven by data localisation and AI demand. Hubs include Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. The IndiaAI Mission (March 2024, ₹10,372 crore) is setting up shared GPU compute, alongside foundation models.

Semiconductors and electronics: see the industrial policy lesson.

Cyber security and data governance:

• CERT-In (the national nodal agency) issued its 2022 directions requiring incidents to be reported within 6 hours;
• the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, with rules notified in 2025;
• critical information infrastructure protection by NCIIPC.

Water infrastructure

The stress: India has about 18% of the world's population but only about 4% of its freshwater. It is the world's largest user of groundwater.

Drinking water:

• Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM, 2019): functional household tap connections (FHTC) for all rural homes. Coverage rose from about 17% (3.2 crore homes) in 2019 to over 80% (15.5 crore+) by 2025.
• The mission was extended to 2028 (2025–26 Budget), with a focus on quality and operation and maintenance.
• Issues: source sustainability, the quality of water supplied, and whether connections actually deliver water every day ("functionality").

Sanitation:

• Swachh Bharat Mission–Gramin: all villages declared ODF in October 2019.
• Phase II: ODF Plus, covering solid and liquid waste management.

Water resources:

• Atal Bhujal Yojana (2019): community-led groundwater management in seven states, with World Bank support;
• Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain;
• Amrit Sarovar (75 ponds in each district);
• river interlinking: the Ken–Betwa link (the first under the National Perspective Plan, foundation laid in December 2024) raises concerns about Panna Tiger Reserve.

Analysis: infrastructure as a public good

The state's role: infrastructure has large positive externalities, so the state must lead where private returns are too low (rural broadband, water) and regulate where natural monopolies exist (telecom spectrum, power grids).

Digital public infrastructure: India's DPI model treats digital rails as public goods with open standards. It enables inclusion, but it needs strong data protection and grievance redress to protect citizens.

Sustainability: water infrastructure must move from building assets to delivering services. Many tap connections and treatment plants fail without operation and maintenance funding and local capacity.

Common prelims traps

• The Telecommunications Act 2023 replaced the Telegraph Act 1885.
• TRAI regulates tariffs and quality; TDSAT decides disputes.
• BharatNet connects gram panchayats, not individual villages.
• JJM is rural; urban tap water is under AMRUT 2.0.

Quick self-test

1. *What does the Digital Bharat Nidhi replace?* The Universal Service Obligation Fund.
2. *When were 5G services launched in India?* October 2022.
3. *Which programme provides household tap water in rural India?* The Jal Jeevan Mission.

Practice: Mains question

*"Digital infrastructure has become as critical as physical infrastructure for India's development." Discuss, with reference to telecom reforms and Digital Public Infrastructure. (250 words)*

The digital divide

Gaps:

• Gender: women are much less likely to own a smartphone or use mobile internet (GSMA Mobile Gender Gap reports).
• Rural–urban: internet penetration in rural India lags urban areas, though it is rising fast.
• Skills: the NSS 78th round (2020–21) found that only a minority of people aged 15–29 could perform basic computer tasks such as copying files or sending email with an attachment.

Responses:

• PM Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA): aimed to make 6 crore rural people digitally literate;
• Common Service Centres, run by village-level entrepreneurs, which provide assisted access to e-services;
• Indian-language content: Bhashini (2022), the National Language Translation Mission, enables voice and text translation across Indian languages.

Spectrum and the 2G judgement

Spectrum is a scarce natural resource. In Centre for PIL v. Union of India (2012), the Supreme Court held that natural resources must be allocated through fair, transparent methods, preferably auctions.

In the Presidential Reference on natural resources (2012), the Court clarified that auctions are not a constitutional mandate for every resource. Policy may choose other methods for public good, provided they are fair and not arbitrary.

The Telecommunications Act 2023 uses this flexibility for satellite spectrum, which is shared and therefore allocated administratively.

Water use efficiency

Agriculture uses about 80% of India's water. Measures to improve efficiency:

• micro-irrigation (drip and sprinkler) under PMKSY's "Per Drop More Crop";
• crop diversification away from water-intensive paddy and sugarcane in water-scarce regions;
• pricing of power and water, which is free or flat-rate for farmers in many states and leads to overuse of groundwater;
• waste-water reuse: several states have policies on treated waste water.

The Mihir Shah Committee (2016) recommended restructuring the CWC and CGWB into a single National Water Commission for integrated management.