Union Minister Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia: India’s Telecom Sector Scales New Heights under Leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi

Ministry of Communications Union Minister Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia: India’s Telecom Sector Scales New Heights under Leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Union Minister Shri Scindia asserts that 2024-2025 has been a Year of Reform, Connectivity and Global Recognition for the Indian Telecom Industry BSNL Turns Profitable after 18 Years; Indigenous 4G Stack Makes India Fifth Nation with Home-grown Telecom Technology India Strengthens Global Telecom Footprint: Leads at ITU, Expands Satellite Communications and Secures Tier-1 Cybersecurity Ranking DoT Showcases Landmark Achievements: Policy Reforms, Deep Rural Connectivity and Modern Telecom Governance in One Year Posted On: 17 OCT 2025 5:42PM by PIB Delhi Union Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia today held a press conference on achievements across the Ministry of Communications encompassing the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Department of Posts (DoP). Minister of State of Communications Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Secretary, Department of Post, Smt. Vandita Kaul and Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Dr. Neeraj Mittal were present at the dais along with the Union Minister. In his opening address, Union Minister Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia highlighted that India is no longer a follower in telecom, stating that “India has now become a leader in telecom, both in terms of services and also in terms of products.” He added that the number of customers across the country and the optical fibre cable network has expanded multiple times. He further said that internet connections had seen remarkable growth, and broadband connections had also increased significantly over the years. Union Minister Shri Scindia emphasised, “When we talk about scale, there is no rival to India in terms of exponential scale. If you were to, purely classify India as a digital nation, India would be the third largest digital nation in the world. So the Prime Minister's foresight 11 years ago of creating an invisible digital highway and on that digital highway, creating the capability of multiple applications to reside and write, today has become a reality.” The Union Minister termed BSNL’s financial revival as one of the “most remarkable achievements” of the telecom department. After 18 years, BSNL turned profitable at the operational level, recording ₹262 crore in Q3 and ₹280 crore in Q4 of FY2024-25. “BSNL’s EBITDA has jumped threefold to ₹5,395 crore, and its losses have been reduced from ₹5,400 crore to ₹2,400 crore,” he said. This profound national transformation is also spearheaded by the successful deployment of the fully indigenous 4G stack—a massive technological breakthrough that places India among an elite group of nations capable of developing its own end-to-end telecom technology. Under the government’s “100% telecom saturation” mission, India has achieved 75% of its target within a year. Out of 17,000 towers planned under the 4G Saturation Project, almost 13,000 have already been installed. The aspirational district scheme has reached 81% saturation, while Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected regions have achieved from Zero percent to 57% in Phase-I, and from 74% to 87% in Phase-II. For island territories, execution has improved from 38% to 84%. To accelerate pending projects, the ministry created a real-time dashboard to monitor and resolve land, forest, and security-related issues. Union Minister Shri Scindia also underscored DoT’s advances in telecom security. AI-based tools like ASTR have disconnected more than 82 lakh fraudulent mobile connections, while the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator system has prevented scams worth nearly ₹200 crore. “Google has now joined this effort, which is a huge fillip,” he noted. A unified digital intelligence platform (DIP) now enables data sharing among over 750 government and private entities, including all state governments, banks, and law enforcement agencies. TRAI has introduced monthly reporting for service quality, replacing the earlier quarterly cycle. Telecom operators are now required to map towers publicly and ensure benchmarks such as less than 2% drop call rates and latency below 50 milliseconds by April 2026. The ministry has also established a single-window clearance portal to reduce right-of-way approval timelines cutting average clearance time from 448 days in 2019 to just 33 days in 2025. Union Minister Shri Scindia emphasized that the ministry’s shift towards accountability and collaboration. “Every Chief General Manager at BSNL is now a CEO of their circle, setting quarterly targets and reviewing them regularly,” he said. In a first-of-its-kind exercise, the DoT recently held a “9-to-9” marathon review meeting - to assess performance and share best practices. “India’s telecom story is one of transformation, resilience, and leadership,” the Union Minister said. Earlier, in his introductory remarks, Secretary (T) Dr. Neeraj Mittal said, that under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Department of Telecommunications has worked with the spirit of Samaveshit (inclusion), Tvarit (speed), Surakshit (security), and Viksit (developed) to ensure that “no citizen, no village, and no enterprise is left behind in India’s digital journey.” Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia concluded the briefing reaffirming the Ministry’s commitment to universal connectivity, indigenous innovation, citizen protection, and global leadership. “Digital Bharat continues to inspire the world as a model of inclusive growth, with secure, self-reliant, and innovative telecom at its backbone,” he said. *** Samrat/Allen (Release ID: 2180441)