Economic Survey highlights telecom PLI's big success

Mumbai: India’s telecom sector has achieved notable success under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, with exports rising by 1.5% average annual growth rate (AAGR) between FY21 and FY25. By contrast, imports fell by 18.5% during the same period, according to the Economic Survey 2025-26 released Thursday.

The PLI scheme to incentivise domestic manufacturing of telecom gear was launched in 2021 with an outlay of Rs 12,195 crore and has attracted over Rs 4,700 crore investments. In the fiscal year 2025 alone, telecom equipment exports surged by 51.2% year-on-year, as per the document.

Telecommunications is positioned as a “foundational backbone of the digital economy,” contributing directly about 1.2% to Gross Value Added (GVA), the survey said.


India’s total telephone connections have risen from about 933 million in 2014 to over 1.2 billion by November 2025, with tele-density increasing from 75% to 86.8%. The growth in rural connections has outpaced urban areas, indicating a narrowing digital divide. Internet subscriptions have expanded from 25 crore in 2014 to over 101 crore by September 2025.

A key driver of digital adoption has been affordability. The Survey points to a “sharp decline in wireless data prices,” from around Rs 300 per GB in 2014 to Rs 8.3 per GB in 2025, coinciding with an exponential rise in data usage. Average monthly data consumption per wireless subscriber has grown from 62 MB in 2014 to about 25 GB by mid-2025.

Network expansion has been supported by large-scale infrastructure build-out. As of December 2025, India had 31.87 lakh mobile base transceiver stations and 8.48 lakh mobile towers.

Public programmes such as BharatNet, financed through Digital Bharat Nidhi, continue to extend fibre connectivity to Gram Panchayats.

The Survey places particular emphasis on the rapid rollout of 5G networks, describing it as a structural upgrade to India’s digital infrastructure. It also highlights India’s development of “end-to-end indigenous 4G and 5G (NSA) core network technologies,” placing the country among a small group with domestic telecom capabilities.

The government states its telecom vision around four guiding principles: Samaveshit (inclusive connectivity), Viksit (enabling a developed India), Tvarit (accelerated deployment) and Surakshit (secure and trusted networks).