Lok Sabha Question No. 1686 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-13
Subject: Impact of 5G Services
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Dibyendu Adhikari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1686 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## IMPACT OF 5G SERVICES

## 1686.   SHRI DIBYENDU ADHIKARI:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has assessed the impact of 5G services both in terms of service and cumulative economic impact in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with its effect on GDP; and
- (c) the  details  of  impact  on  rural  areas  in  terms  of  electronic  transparency  and  transition  of technology with urban scenario thereto?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) to (c) 5G services were launched in India on October 1, 2022. As on 1 st  December 2023, 3.99 lakh 5G BTS (Base Transceiver Station) have been rolled out covering 738 districts in the country. The deployment of 5G BTS is ongoing both in rural and urban areas. Mobile download speed has shown significant improvement. In October 2023, India ranked 28 th in the Speedtest Global Index by Ookla with median download speed of 75.86 Mbps. It was 1.30Mbps in March 2014. The total investment committed for 5G rollout is in excess of Rs. 2 lakh crores.

India's digital landscape has undergone tremendous transformation and growth.  India is on a mission to develop into a knowledge-based economy by ensuring digital services, digital access, digital inclusion and digital empowerment for all. The achievements so far are as follows:

## I . Aadhaar

- Aadhaar is World's largest biometric and demographic based unique digital identity programme.
- Aadhaar provides fingerprint based online authentication, iris-based authentication, One time password (OTP)  authentication, electronic-Know your customer  (e-KYC)  and  Face Authentication.
- As on, October, 2023, 130.99 crore Aadhaar have been issued. Saturation level for adults has now reached close to 100 %, as compared to 61.9 % in May 2014.
- Different types of payment systems using Aadhaar viz.  Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS), Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) and Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) Aadhaar have  been  developed  and  are  being  operated  by  National  Payment  Corporation  of  India (NPCI) using the banking platforms, which have significantly helped to achieve the financial inclusion in the country.

- Cumulative Aadhaar authentication transactions have grown from 40.70 crore in 2014-15 to 10.97 thousand crore in FY 2023-24.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) based face authentication modality with liveness detection features have been launched on 15.10.2021 and 16 different entities have been permitted to use face authentication.
- Various schemes like Public Distribution System (PDS,) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (MGNREGS),  National  Social  Assistance  Program, scholarships and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) subsidy have been integrated with Aadhaar for targeted delivery of service.
- Aadhaar has enabled the government to reach out to crores of people through Direct Benefit Transfer and deliver benefits and subsidies directly into their bank accounts, thereby curbing corruption, diversions and leakages.
- More than 1300 government schemes notified to use Aadhaar by Central Government/State/ UT's till October 2023 for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Schemes.

## II. Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)

## (i) National Scholarships Platform (NSP)

- National Scholarships Platform aims at providing common  electronic Platform for implementing various Scholarships schemes  launched by Union  Government,  State Government and Union Territories across the country. A total of 140 Schemes belonging to 12 Ministries/Departments and 17 States/UTs are on boarded on NSP.
- During the period 2015-16 to 2022-23, an amount Rs. 28,134.99 crore (approx.) has been disbursed to around 6.11 crore beneficiaries through DBT mode.
- (ii) Digilocker

Digilocker has emerged as a credible alternative to physical documents. More than 223.64 million users are registered and 6.28 billion documents have been issued on Digilocker.

## (iii) Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN)

CoWIN has played a crucial role in streamlining the vaccination process and tracking the beneficiaries.  1.11  billion  beneficiaries  have  been  registered  and  2.21  Billion  doses  of vaccinations have been facilitated on CoWIN.

## III. Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyaan (PMGDISHA)

Under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) digital literacy is being promoted in rural India. Around 7.26 crore candidates have been enrolled and 6.27 crore have been trained, out of which 4.68 crore candidates have been certified this Scheme.

India has now one of the leading 5G ecosystem in the world. The improved coverage results in better delivery of services, digital financial inclusion and empowerment of citizens. In the process, India  has  emerged  as  one  of  the  pre-eminent  nations  of  the  world  to  use  digital  technology  to transform the lives of its citizens.

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