Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the Digital India initiative, which began five years ago, has become a way of life in the country.
"It has transformed the lives of the poor and marginalised and the way the government functions," he said after inaugurating the three-day 23rd edition of the Bengaluru Tech Summit virtually.
Noting that India had an advantage in innovation, the prime minister said it was time to deploy Indian-designed products for the world. "Technology is playing a key role in all the schemes. Crores of farmers receive monetary support at the click of a button. At the peak of the lockdown, it was technology that ensured that our poor received proper and quick assistance. The scale of this relief has few parallels," Modi said in his address.
Thanks to digital technology, India has been able to scale up its delivery of services to people across the country. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has been able to help citizens through the Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme, he said in his 20-minute speech.
"The Internet came to this country about 25 years ago. Today, we have achieved a milestone of 750 million internet connections, more than half of that were added in the last four years," the prime minister said.
Union IT and Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the new Data Protection Law will be finalised very soon that will enable India to transform into a data economy. "We will be providing optical fibre connection in all six lakh villages over the next 1,000 days. The work has already begun in this direction," he said.
"The whole world is looking towards India. Achieving 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' is not to isolate from the world but to become a global supply chain hub for the whole world," the PM said. He further added that the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme will enable the companies to invest Rs 11 lakh crore in the next five years. Of this, Rs 7 lakh crore will be invested for producing goods for the export market. Nine of Apple's units have moved to India from China, he cited, adding that one of them has started production of iPhones at a factory in Bengaluru.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, State Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan, State Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar and other dignitaries participated in the inaugural event.