Which of the following is/are the aim/aims of “Digital India” Plan of the Government of India?
- 1.Formation of India’s own Internet companies like China did.
- 2.Establish a policy framework to encourage overseas multinational corporations that collect Big Data to build their large data centres within our national geographical boundaries.
- 3.Connect many of our villages to the Internet and bring Wi-Fi to many of our schools, public places and major tourist centres.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 3 only
Only statement 3 is an aim of Digital India, which is about digital infrastructure, on-demand services and digital empowerment of citizens, including broadband to villages and Wi-Fi at public places. Building Indian rivals to Chinese Internet firms or drawing foreign firms' data centres to India is not among its stated aims.
- ✗ 1. The programme's stated vision is a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy, built on three areas: digital infrastructure as a utility, governance and services on demand, and digital empowerment of citizens. Creating national Internet companies is not one of them.
- ✗ 2. Digital India's official aims do not include a policy framework to pull overseas companies' data centres into India. Its infrastructure work is about broadband, mobile coverage and public access.
- ✓ 3. BharatNet, the backbone of Digital India, aims to take Internet services to every corner of the country, and Digital India also covers public Wi-Fi: BSNL set up hotspots at tourist places such as the Ganga Ghats at Varanasi and the Taj Mahal, and the plan includes Wi-Fi in all universities and broadband in all schools.
Remember · Digital India (launched 1 July 2015) has three vision areas: digital infrastructure as a utility, governance and services on demand, and digital empowerment of citizens.
Sources
- Digital India, About Us (MeitY, Government of India) ↗ “Digital India is a flagship programme of the Government of India, launched on July 1, 2015, by Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi with the vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.”
- Digital India brochure (2015), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology: BharatNet ↗ “BharatNet serves as the infrastructure backbone of Digital India, taking Internet and telecommunication services to every nook and corner of the country. … BSNL has set up Wi-Fi Hotspots at important tourist places like the Ganga Ghats at Varanasi, Taj Mahal at Agra and Hussain Sagar Lake at Hyderabad”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·