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India will be data capital of the world in 5 years: Jyotiraditya Scindia
With a 97 per cent fall in the price of data over the past 11 years, India is set to become the data capital of the world in the next five years, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday. India is already the second-largest mobile market globally, with 1.2 billion users and 974 million internet users, of whom 940 million are broadband users, he said. With 1 GB of data now costing ₹9 on average—down from ₹287 in 2014—the cost of communication has fallen by 97 per cent, Scindia said. India's per GB data cost is only one-fifth of the global average, he added. India is also among the only five countries in the world to develop an indigenous 4G telecom stack. BSNL has installed close to 94,000 4G telecom towers. Scindia said he is committed to transforming India Post from a cost centre to a profit centre within the next five years, noting that it has the largest distribution network in the world with 1.64 lakh points of presence. 'There is no reason why the post office can't become a small mall. We are empowering every Grameen Dak Sevak with a handheld electronic payment device,' he said. North East rising Scindia, who also serves as Minister for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, said the eight North Eastern states have seen a decadal compounded annual growth rate of 12–13 per cent, and are on course to becoming the economic powerhouse of the country. He said the recent North East Summit attracted ₹4.3 trillion worth of investment for the region. Highlighting infrastructure development, the Minister said the number of airports in the region has increased to 17, from 9 earlier. Weekly air traffic movements have more than doubled—from 980 a decade ago to about 2,200 now. The region is home to 38 per cent of India's bamboo and 22 per cent of its rubber, and holds the greatest potential for the cultivation of Agarwood, used extensively in the perfume industry. 'Around ₹1,000 crore of investment has been received for Agarwood cultivation in the North East,' Scindia said. He added that nine infrastructure projects worth ₹81,000 crore are currently under execution. The Centre is committed to developing Agartala and Guwahati as connectivity hubs for South East Asia, he said. 'Up to $122 billion of trade currently conducted with ASEAN nations must be routed through the North East,' the minister said. He also noted that 6,000 km of highways and 2,000 km of railways have been built in the region over the past decade.
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