With an objective to ensure connectivity to every corner of the country, the government has approved setting up of 25,000 new towers in the next 500 days with an investment of Rs. 26,000 crore, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology and Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw has said.

Vaishnaw made the announcement at the three-day long “Digital India Conference of State IT Ministers” that began on October 1, and concluded on Monday.

On the first day, the detailed discussions on key priority areas of Digital India initiatives were held with States and Union Territories under the chairmanship of Vaishnaw. Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Minister of state for Communications Devusinh Chauhan and IT ministers from 12 states and UTs, namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Puducherry, participated in the event.

In his concluding remarks, Vaishnaw stated that the connectivity is vital for the Digital India and its reach to every corner of the country. He announced that Rs. 26,000 crore has been approved to install 25,000 new towers in next 500 days, according to an official statement released by the Ministry of Electronics and IT on Tuesday.

He congratulated all states and UTs for their speedy onboarding at PM Gati Shakti. He also shared that the special assistance to states for capital expenditure worth Rs. 2,000 crore has been supported.

He encouraged the states to be proactive and make business friendly policies to attract businesses in their states. Emphasising on the motto of Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas, he stated that the commitments from all states and UTs, large as well as small states, are vital in taking Digital India to higher level and in realising the AatmaNirbhar Bharat and Trillion Dollar Digital Economy.

On the second day, MeitY organised three sessions on important aspects like ‘IT Rules, Online Gaming and Data Governance’, ‘Digital India Bhashini & Digital Payment’, and ‘MyScheme and Meri Pehchaan’.

The demo on eligibility / profile-based service discovery at MyScheme was shown. In the concluding remarks, the Secretary, MeitY, Alkesh Kumar Sharma encouraged the States and UTs to align their policies in sync with the policies published and in-making by the Central Government. He also said that States and UTs should leverage the latest initiatives of Central Government for improving the citizen centric and business centric services, resulting in further ease of living and ease of doing business.

On the third day, MeitY organized five panel discussions titled ‘Attracting Startups to Tier 2 Cities and Sustaining Them’, ‘Use of Emerging Tech in Public Services’, ‘Making India Talent Nation’, ‘Realization of Digital Government in States’, and ‘Make-in-India for the Globe — India as Semiconductor Nation’.