Government aims to connect 40 crore people with internet in three years, says MoS IT

The government plans to connect 40 crore people with the internet in the next three years, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Monday. He said the internet is the future.

The government has also been able to create a corruption-free environment in the country, he added.

"We have 80 crore people in the country who are connected with the internet but there are 40 crore people who are still unconnected. Our target is to connect these 40 crore people with the internet in the next three years," Chandrasekhar said.


He was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of an internet exchange in Uttarakhand, NIXI's 10th such exchange in the country. It will enhance and improve the quality of internet and broadband services in the state.

"We have decided that the next internet exchange will be set up in Nainital," Chandrasekhar said.

He said India has seen tremendous growth in the electronics and information technology sector, with eight lakh new jobs and two unicorns that have come up every month between January and to date.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni urged the minister to set up an internet exchange in every district of the state.

The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) is planning to launch many small nodes like this in tier-2 and tier-3 cities in the near future, to improvise the entire internet ecosystem in India.

An internet exchange closer to the audience helps in improving internet speed and also revenue outgo on bandwidth expenses.