Digital Nations 2025: Towards digital sovereignty in India

India’s progress in its digitalisation journey is reflected in its performance in the GSMA Intelligence Digital Nations Index, a tool that tracks the progress of Asia Pacific countries toward their digitalisation goals, allowing stakeholders in each country to pinpoint areas for potential improvement. India exceeded the regional average in four of the five components assessed, with its highest result observed in the Security component. Importantly, the index also highlights significant gaps that could undermine further advancement if left unaddressed. For policymakers and other stakeholders in India’s digital ecosystem, recognising these gaps is a vital first step towards addressing them, notwithstanding the progress made so far.

This report highlights four key steps to navigate the path to digital sovereignty. These are:

• Facilitate cross-sector collaboration – combine expertise and resources across government, industry, and international partners to tackle complex issues, including bridging the investment gap, closing the usage gap, and tackling digital fraud and scams.
• Foster investments in the digital ecosystem – further mobilising private capital by implementing policies that reduce bureaucracy, ensure regulatory clarity, and offer incentives.
• Maintain global cooperation – leverage collaboration to advance India’s ambition for leadership in the Global South, fostering platforms for knowledge sharing and technology export.
• Strengthen institutional and regulatory capabilities – enact and update of outdated frameworks to encompass new technologies, leveraging sandbox environments and capacity building and upskilling initiatives to develop expertise in emerging technologies.