Communication and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Saturday said that Rs18,000 crore or nearly $3 billion worth of investment proposals have been received till now for the ‘Digital India Programme’

Addressing the 87th annual general meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) here, Prasad said that out of the Rs.18,000 crore investment proposals, projects worth Rs.4,000 crore have been approved and more are in the pipeline.

Laying the industry’s concerns to rest Prasad said that while there are issues of spectrum to provide high speed connectivity and regulatory control, India will become an exciting place as far as Digital India is concerned.

‘E-commerce,’ he said, was worth billions of dollars and will help increase India’s GDP in a big way.

Prasad further said that the huge postal network can be used for various services like banking and insurance. The postal services earn Rs.280 crore from e-commerce, he said.

Stating that digital connectivity is needed for good governance, Prasad said that India had more than a $100 billion turnover in the IT industry.

Prasad pointed out that the government has initiated a programme – National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) – which proposes seven lakh kilometers of optical fibre to be laid to connect 250 gram panchayats in three years.

“Wi-Fi spots will be provided around the clusters after that and all villages will be provided with internet connectivity,” he said.

CII launches National Mission on Digital India

Meanwhile, CII on Friday launched the National Mission on Digital India in New Delhi.

Addressing the First Steering Committee Meeting on Digital India, Aruna Sundararajan, administrator, USOF and CMD, BBNL said that an apex industry body like CII should look at focused, time-bound and transformational initiatives that can become a game changer for the country.

“We also need to create an institutional mechanisms focusing on joint interoperability in the sectors of education, skilling and healthcare to ensure that the rollout of the Digital India campaign comes to fruition,” said Sundararajan.

AN Rai, CMD of  BSNL said that it is critical for the industry to come up with viable and scalable business models for the success of Digital India.

IANS