Citing figures to show how Internet and cyber penetration has increased in the country, Shah said, “We have 95 crore Internet users as of March 31, compared to 25 crore during the same time period in 2014.”He added that in 2014, as many as 600 panchayats were linked to the Internet, which has reached 2.13 lakh now.“Seven lakh kilometres of optical fibre cable has been laid, data download speed has increased, the cost has decreased and Internet consumption has risen 78 per cent over a period of time,” the minister noted, adding that in 2024, India saw UPI (Unified Payments Interface) transactions worth about `20,64,000 crore, which is 46 per cent of the global digital transactions.“This makes our work challenging and hence protection against cyber fraud is required,” he said, while flagging issues such as the illegal sale of important personal data over the Internet, spread of fake news, tool kits, online harassment and abuse of women and children.
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