India has climbed 11 places in the Network Readiness Index 2024 (NRI 2024), securing the 49th rank globally, as announced on 27 November 2024. Published by the Portulans Institute, the index evaluates 133 economies across four pillars—technology, people, governance, and impact—using 54 variables. India’s score improved significantly from 49.93 in 2023 to 53.63 in 2024.
India leads globally in several indicators:
- 1st place: AI scientific publications, AI talent concentration, and ICT services exports.
- 2nd place: FTTH/Building Internet subscriptions and mobile broadband internet traffic.
- 3rd place: Domestic market scale.
- 4th place: Annual investment in telecommunication services.
Key achievements include:
- Rising teledensity from 75.2% to 84.69% over the past decade.
- Increasing internet subscribers from 25.1 crore to 94.4 crore, largely driven by the Digital India initiative.
- Boosting global mobile broadband speed rankings from 118th to 15th, following the launch of 5G in 2022.
India is now focusing on next-gen technologies with the Bharat 6G Vision, aiming to solidify its leadership in telecom innovation.
