Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed the Lok Sabha that India has 117 crore mobile connections and 93 crore internet connections. He stated that the cost of calls per minute has dropped significantly, with current rates at 53 paisa per minute, making India’s call rates among the lowest globally. Scindia highlighted that the cost of one GB of data is Rs 9.1, reflecting India’s position as having some of the cheapest data prices in the world.
He further elaborated that the cost of calls per minute has decreased by 93% over the years. As of March 2024, India has a total of 954.40 million internet subscribers, including 398.35 million rural internet subscribers. Additionally, as of April 2024, 95.15% of the country’s villages, or 6,12,952 out of 6,44,131 villages, have 3G/4G mobile connectivity.
Last month, data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) showed that the telecom subscriber base increased by 0.16%, reaching 1,201.22 million at the end of April from 1,199.28 million in March 2024. The data revealed that wireless subscribers continue to dominate the total subscriber base, with 1,165.49 million in the reported month. The total number of internet subscribers in the country grew from 251.59 million in March 2014 to 954.40 million in March 2024, achieving a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.26%.
