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GBS 2026: At the ET NOW Global Business Summit, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia framed India’s digital journey over the past decade as a structural transformation that has laid the foundation for economic scale, global influence and technological leadership.
1. Digital Highway Powers Economy
Scindia said that under Narendra Modi, India built an invisible “digital highway”, an infrastructure that now powers business, commerce and the broader economy.
A decade ago, India had around 60 million broadband subscribers; today that number stands at 1 billion. The cost of 1 GB of data has fallen from Rs 287 about 12 years ago to Rs 9 now, making India’s data prices roughly 5 per cent of the global average. While the average global cost is about USD 2.49 per GB, India’s is around 11 cents, he said.
Calling it a “complete transformation,” Scindia argued that low-cost data has become a foundational economic enabler.
2. India’s Scale in Digital Payments
On digital transactions, he said India now accounts for 50 per cent of the world’s digital transactions.
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processes close to 20 billion transactions a month, about 250 billion annually, amounting to USD 4.3 trillion. India, he said, is not only powering its own economy but also shaping global commerce through its digital infrastructure, with digital connectivity spanning 190 countries.
3. From Catch-Up to Capability in Telecom
Reflecting on his early days in public service in the telecom department in 2007, Scindia said India was once playing catch-up on 4G. While the country moved in step with the world on 5G, he asserted that India will lead on 6G.
A key turning point, he said, was the decision to build a domestic telecom stack rather than rely solely on global equipment makers such as Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei, ZTE and Samsung.
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) chose what he described as the “difficult route”, vertically integrating to build its own radio access network (RAN), core software and base transceiver stations.
A consortium comprising Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), Tejas Networks and Tata Consultancy Services developed a domestic 4G stack in 19 months. In September last year, the Prime Minister inaugurated 100,000 towers built on this indigenous stack, Scindia said, marking India’s entry into a sector long dominated by five companies across four countries.
India has thus become the fifth country to produce its own 4G stack, he added.
4. Fastest 5G Rollout
On 5G, Scindia said India executed the fastest rollout globally, deploying around 500,000 towers in 22 months with capital expenditure of Rs 4.5 lakh crore by domestic telcos.
Today, 99.9 per cent of India’s districts have 5G coverage, with only one district left due to accessibility issues. Of India’s 120 crore mobile subscribers, 40 crore, about 35 per cent, are already on 5G. That number is expected to rise to 100 crore by 2030, he said.
5. India at the 6G Standards Table
Looking ahead, Scindia said India is for the first time participating in global standard-setting for 6G at platforms such as 3GPP and the ITU.
The Bharat 6G Alliance, set up in 2023, has grown from 18 to 100 stakeholders across startups, tech firms, telecom operators and government. Its mandate is to secure 10 per cent of global patents when 6G standards are finalised.
India, he said, aims to convert what has often been described as a digital divide into a digital dividend, positioning itself not just as a consumer of technology, but as a standard-setter and global contributor in the next generation of telecom.
ET NOW Global Business Summit 2026: Day 2 LIVE VIDEO
ET NOW Global Business Summit 2026
At a time when disruption is continuous and power is being re-distributed across technology, geopolitics, capital, and society, Times Group’s thought leadership dialogue, ET NOW Global Business Summit (GBS) 2026, set to take place on February 13 and February 14 at the Hotel Taj Palace in New Delhi, embraces the theme “A Decade of Disruption. A Century of Change”.
GBS 2026 - A Decade of Disruption. A Century of Change
This year’s edition reflects the scale, speed, and significance of transformations reshaping global economies, from technological acceleration and geopolitical realignment to sustainability imperatives and new governance models.
The GBS 2026 will evaluate a range of themes, including economic disruption, Industry 5.0, globalisation, workforce transformation, energy security and business diversification.
The Times Group’s ET NOW Global Business Summit (GBS) is not a reflection on the past; it is a platform built to shape what comes next. As Asia’s most influential global leadership forum, it convenes the architects of economies, institutions, and enterprises to script the forces that will define the century ahead.
Conceived as a space where leaders confront uncertainty before it becomes inevitability, GBS convenes the world’s most influential voices to interpret disruption, design direction, and script long-term impact.
As economies, technologies, and governance systems undergo accelerated transformation, GBS serves as a centre of global conversations, where emerging realities are debated, strategic responses are forged, and the foundations of future growth are laid.
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