Digital India will ensure jobs for 18 lakh people; will enable investment of Rs 4.5 lakh crore: PM Narendra Modi

During a high-profile launch of the 'Digital India Week' which saw a huge number of industrialists and CEOs from top Indian companies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, articulated his vision for the nation by saying that he dreamed of an India, where ICT enabled citizen-government interface is incorruptible, and governance is transparent.

The Prime Minister also said that he dreamed of a digital India where the world looks to India for the next innovation, and 4.5 lakh connected Indians drive the nation. "We could not take advantage of the industrial revolution, but we cannot lose out on the IT revolution," said he, speaking on the opportunity that India Inc has.

Modi also expressed that for a country like India that has so many talented IT professionals and companies, it should not be importing electronic goods, and design in India must be the anchor for Digital India. This is important for India, as India's second highest import is electronic goods.

Predicting about the impact of the digital wave, PM Modi predicted that banks will soon be paperless and premise-less. Predicting about the places where people in the future, PM Modi said, "In the past, people lived beside rivers. Then came highways. Now they set up homes where OFC passes through."  The PM also assured all possible help to startups and assured them that his government will get even more active.

During the Digital India week, five key products were launched: National Scholarship Portal, Digital Locker, Digital Agent, E-Hospital and E-Sign.

Top industrialists in the country such as Anil Ambani, Sunil Bharti Mittal and KM Birla committed massive investments in the digital space. While Sunil Bharti Mittal committed to invest Rs 1 lakh crore in the next five years, Anil Ambani said that his group will invest Rs 10,000 crore, while KM Birla said that his group will invest $7 billion in the next five years in the digital space. Delta Electronics said that it was looking to invest $500 million in India over the next five years, and said that it expected to create over 20,000 new jobs in India.