Digital India 2.0: The Bold Leap Toward an AI-Powered, Self-Reliant Future

Highlight

• Digital India 2.0 focuses on AI, indigenous 4G, and sovereign digital infrastructure for a self-reliant India.
• Over 34,000 GPUs deployed under the IndiaAI Mission to democratize compute access and foster innovation.
• Swadeshi 4G rollout connects 26,700 remote villages, expanding digital inclusion and national connectivity.

What Is Digital India 2.0?

More than ten years after its launch, Digital India has progressed from its initial phase of infrastructure, connectivity, and platform development to what many observers consider a second, more ambitious phase, dubbed Digital India 2.0. This new phase of Digital India is focused on sovereign infrastructure, AI, and compute capabilities, expansion of deep inclusion, and self-reliance to establish core digital stacks.

There are multiple prominent launches, significant infrastructure stack rollouts, and expected collaborations scheduled to occur until October 2025, signifying real progress in the nation-building effort. This article will reflect on the all-important milestones, the partnerships facilitating these developments, the effects on citizens and institutions, and what lies ahead strategically.

Vision of Digital India 2.0 – From Access to Autonomy

Digital India, in its first decade, focused on bridging the digital divide by connecting fibers, increasing mobile penetration, and building platforms for public services through the government, with the overriding mission. Digital India, in its second decade, will be focused on three converging goals:

• Sovereign Infrastructure & Technology Stack: Building a homegrown telecom, core, cloud, AI, and security stack, so that India is less reliant on external suppliers and geopolitical disruptions.
• Democratized Compute & AI: Enabling startups, research, academia, and government bodies to pay for access and use a large-scale compute and AI stack, eliminating a significant barrier to innovation.
• Inclusive & Resilient Digital Ecosystem: Penetrating digital services deeper into rural, remote, tribal, and underserved communities – with resilience, with multilingual capability, and last-mile usability.

The term “Digital India” is an apropos reference point to reflect on the iconic nature of the initiative itself.

Milestone 1 – Swadeshi 4G Rollout Connects 26,700 Villages

BSNL’s Indigenous 4G Stack

One of the principal accomplishments as of late September / October 2025 is the national rollout of BSNL’s Swadeshi 4G network, built with a fully indigenous stack. On 27 September 2025, PM Modi inaugurated this from Jharsuguda, Odisha, symbolically launching the commissioning of more than 97,500 mobile 4G towers, of which ~92,600 sites were new BSNL 4G sites. This means more than just increasing the hardware footprint.

The network is built around a cloud-native, 5G-ready core Radio Access Network (RAN) elements and components are developed by indigenous firms.

Seamless future upgradability to 5G

Many locations incorporate solar-powered tower clusters. The national rollout operator/network, according to the government, places India alongside just four other countries in the global landscape that can build its own telecommunications stack (4G/5G).

Specifically, within the rollout, the government has placed connectivity in 26,700 previously unconnected villages on the rollout agenda, many of which are remote, border, or left-wing influenced – it is not an expansion into areas previously prioritized for telecommunication infrastructure services.

Core Partners: TCS, C-DOT, Tejas Networks

The consortium of companies supporting this initiative includes TCS, C-DOT, and Tejas Networks, which provide integration, core, and radio solutions, in conjunction with TCS deploying more than 35 data centres across the nation to support the telecom stack, while C-DOT’s radio and telecom core specialization is combined with Tejas Networks on board.

National Connectivity Impact

The cost attributed to the rollout is estimated at around rupees 3700 crores. Additionally, the design anticipates upgrading the software to 5G, allowing this 4G deployment not to be at a dead end but merely a beginning. In addition to coverage, the swadeshi label matters because it relates to India’s effort to be self-sufficient in technology, having less reliance on foreign stack and supply chains, particularly in the telecom sector, which is of a strategic nature.

Milestone 2: IndiaAI Mission Crosses 34,000 GPUs

Another milestone of Digital India 2.0 is the expansion of a national AI infrastructure under the IndiaAI Mission. As of May 30, 2025, India had a combined compute capacity of over 34,000 GPUs across public/academic/private clusters. The goal of this is to democratize access to AI and has been a centerpiece of the IndiaAI Mission approved by the Cabinet on 7 March 2024, revolving around:

● Empaneling cloud/infrastructure providers of subsidized compute

● Building indigenous foundational AI models

● Leveraging AI for social good, ethics, and governance. At the time of announcement, three start-ups were also selected to develop India’s foundational AI models (very large AI models trained on Indian data) as part of this initiative.

The Government has indicated India will aspire to be in the top five countries in the world for the development and deployment of AI. While crossing 34,000 GPUs is an important milestone, the mission’s view is that this is a baseline.

Anticipated future empanelments and scaling will likely venture into the 50,000+ range as the use cases increase (governance, healthcare, climate, agriculture). This computing backbone is enabling startups, academic research, government AI projects, and public services (for instance, AI modules driving public grievance redressal, predictive analytics, or citizen services).

Other Noteworthy Developments & Ecosystem Movements

BharatNet, Fibre & Last Mile Expansion, while not as sensational as the telecom or AI movements, the infrastructural work – primarily around optical fibre expansion, BharatNet upgrades, FTTH (fibre to the home) deployments, and Wi-Fi hotspots – is still proceeding. The BharatNet backbone still serves as the skeleton for extending broadband connectivity in rural areas. The fibre work is providing backhaul capacity for 4G, and in turn for 5G / broadband. It acts as a reminder that the physical infrastructure matters, despite getting less attention than compute and stack.

Data Centres & Edge Infrastructure

In recognition of the need for local processing, low-latency services, and sovereignty, both government and private sector entities are accelerating investment in data centres and associated infrastructure (edge compute zones, SEZs for AI/telecom, compute hubs at the regional level). While many of these are partially operational at this time, there are a number currently under development (especially in states positioning themselves as tech hubs).

Policy, Standardization & Governance

Beyond hardware, the governance framework is being sharpened:The Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) is being repurposed to drive domestic R&D into telecom. The Bharat 6G Alliance and 100+ 5G/6G labs are being supported to sustain energy behind next-generation communications research. AI safety, ethics, audit, and frameworks are being institutionalized and often folded inside IndiaAI’s “Safe & Trusted AI” pillar. Datasets (public/government) and data governance schemes are being opened to developers through portals, APIs, and controlled access to strengthen openness.

Impacts & Connectivity Gains for Citizens Rural & Remote Inclusion

The combination of the newly launched 4G and the fibre-backed backhaul means millions of new broadband users – especially in villages that were previously unconnected or underserved – will now have access to high-speed connections for things like digital education, telemedicine, online banking, e-governance, and more.

Reports indicate that over 26,700 villages have been newly connected through the Swadeshi rollout. As a result, students are taking classes online from remote hamlets; farmers are connecting with markets; health centres are providing tele-consultations; and micro-entrepreneurs are extending their reach.

Democratizing Innovation

Access to high-end compute levels the playing field: a student, research team, or early-stage startup based anywhere in India can now access GPU clusters and AI infrastructure previously only available at privileged institutes. This can foster regional innovation hubs outside the traditional tech cities.

Governance & Service Efficiency

With indigenous stacks and AI infrastructure, government digital services can be hosted on sovereign infrastructure, eliminating reliance on foreign clouds or platforms. Services can be localized, more resilient, and more secure while also having a better data sovereignty posture.

Cost and price pressures

Building and operating domestic telecom infrastructure (e.g., using local components) reduces reliance on foreign imports, thus avoiding supply chain shocks, which can help keep costs down in the mid-term. Likewise, subsidized AI compute access can help lower the barrier of hardware cost for innovation.

Challenges, Risks, and Caveats: Execution & Scalability

Executing on the national scale, a fully new telecom stack is incredibly complicated – integrating, supporting the maintenance of, and upgrading many thousands of towers, interoperability, software upgrades, and maintaining service quality across spots. Sustainability of Incentive Models. In the initial phase of scaling, subsidies, budgets, and incentives support adoption. The long-term challenge will be to scale with costs, maintenance, and upgrades to a telecom stack without needing ongoing incentives.

Component Supply Chains and Depth of Sovereignty

Even while a telecom stack and compute backbones are being built out domestically, many essential components – chips, specialized ASICs, etc. – still rely on foreign imports. Building depth of semiconductor and component supply chains remains a long-term challenge.

Digital Literacy, Device Affordability, and Access

Although connectivity exists, many households do not have access to capable devices such as smartphones, tablets, or laptops, or lack familiarity with using these services effectively. Bridging gaps in digital literacy will be necessary.

Governance, Privacy, and Security

As more citizen services and AI systems are tied into government infrastructures, issues of privacy, oversight, algorithmic bias, and security will matter more. Ensuring systems that are safe, auditable, and transparent will be important to ensure public trust.

Roadmap: What to Expect After October 2025

5G / 6G Readiness

The swadeshi 4G stack is by design 5G-ready, which will enable upgrades using software rather than hardware in the future. India has launched 6G labs, a 6G alliance, and a number of R&D nodes to keep India at the edge of innovation in telecom.

Scaling AI Compute to 50,000 GPUs

IndiaAI is expected to scale compute to almost 50,000 GPUs before adding additional empanelled providers, new accelerators (TPUs, NPUs, etc.), and federated compute across states and institutions, too.

Local Innovation Hubs

AI / telecom / digital SEZ, regional data centres, startup hubs, and centres of excellence may be established in various states, so we will not be concentrating technology in a few metro cities.

Interoperable National Digital Fabrics

Integration of services between identity (Aadhaar / DigiLocker), health, finance, agriculture, education, irrigation, and climate will become deeper. Smart city, smart grid, IoT, and sensor networks will be increasingly tied into the digital fabric.

Holistic Governance & Ethics

The establishment of independent audit authorities, AI oversight boards, public grievance redress systems, transparency in AI decision-making, and user control over data will be vital.

Consideration of Inclusion & Local Languages

Mainstream acceptance in Tier 2 / Tier 3 / rural India will require user interfaces, voice user experience, regional language provisions, and resilient design in low-bandwidth environments.

Conclusion – The Path Toward a Self-Reliant Digital India

By October 2025, Digital India 2.0 is no longer just a label – it is a reality being achieved through bold infrastructure development, indigenous stack development, universal computing access, and effective governance.

The Rs. 37,000 crore Swadeshi 4G initiative, surpassing 34,000 GPUs on the national AI platform, and the escalating growth of data centres and governance frameworks signify a significant shift. Yet, much work is left. Sustainability, economic and military autonomy over components, bridging the divide between devices and literacy, as well as trust, will either define the sincerity of the change for India, or they will not.