India Has over 950 Million Internet Subscribers, UP And Maharashtra Lead Pack, Govt Tells Parliament

Minister of state for communications Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani told Parliament on Thursday that as of March 2024, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the country has a total of 954.40 million internet subscribers.

The minister shared comprehensive data, highlighting significant variations in internet penetration across different states and union territories (UTs) in both urban and rural areas. According to the response by the MoS, India has 398.35 million internet subscribers in rural areas and 556.05 million in urban areas.

Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of total internet subscribers (129.53 million), the data shows. However, while the number of urban internet subscribers is 65.76 million, in the rural region there are 63.77 million users, suggesting a narrowing digital divide within the state. Maharashtra, second on the list in terms of total users (109.75 million), leads with the highest number of urban internet subscribers (75.99 million), while in the rural areas, the figure is 33.76 million. This underscores the state’s substantial urban population and economic activity.

West Bengal ranks third, with a total of 63.18 million internet subscribers. The state has 25.15 million rural users and 38.04 million urban users, indicating a balanced distribution. Then comes Tamil Nadu with a total of 61.23 million internet users. Of these, 17.23 million are rural subscribers, and 44.00 million are urban subscribers, highlighting the state’s significant urban user base. Karnataka rounds out the top five, with 57.88 million total internet users. This includes 20.79 million rural and 37.09 million urban subscribers.

Among all the states, the fewest internet users are in Sikkim, which has a total of 600,000 subscribers, divided almost equally between its rural (0.31 million) and urban (0.29 million) populations. This illustrates the state’s small but evenly distributed user base. Arunachal Pradesh, another state with low internet penetration, has 890,000 total subscribers, with 530,000 rural and 370,000 urban users, highlighting its largely rural demographic.

The list of states with below 10 million total subscribers also includes Himachal Pradesh (6.60 million), Manipur (2.25 million), Meghalaya (2.07 million), Mizoram (1.24 million), Nagaland (1.66 million), Tripura (2.18 million), and Uttarakhand (9.84 million).

On the other end of the spectrum, the union territory with the highest number of internet users is Delhi, boasting a significant 35.18 million subscribers. This figure highlights Delhi’s status, including being the capital of the country, as a densely populated and highly urbanised area with substantial internet penetration.

Following Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir stands out with 9.55 million internet users. Puducherry, despite being smaller in size compared to other regions, has a notable 1.25 million internet users. This reflects the region’s relatively high internet penetration rate among its residents. While Chandigarh also features prominently with 1.32 million subscribers, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which includes Daman and Diu, has 0.84 million internet users.