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India's Offline Majority
In a crowd of 2,000 Indians, only 900 are online. 1,100 remain offline. Rural India — 65% of the population — has spotty connectivity at best. The digital divide maps onto the poverty divide.
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Did you know
India's internet story is one of the fastest expansions in history. In 2014, fewer than 20% of Indians had internet access. By 2024, it's over 52% — still less than half, but representing nearly 800 million users, the second-largest internet population on Earth. The driver was Jio, a telecom launched in 2016 that made mobile data nearly free. In a crowd of 2,000 Indians in 2014, 400 were online. Today: over 1,000.
Sources
3 sources
- Intl. OrgITU Facts and Figures 20242024
- OfficialGovernment of India - Department of Telecommunications2023
- Intl. OrgWorld Bank - India Digital Economy2023