The cabinet has approved the Digital India programme aimed at transforming India into a connected knowledge economy. The programme will be implemented in a phased manner by 2019 and is estimated to cost about Rs 1.13 trillion. The programme will include the ongoing schemes run by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY). 

Through the Digital India programme, the government plans to connect 250,000 villages by broadband under the National Optical Fibre Network Project. Along with this, the programme is aimed at reducing imports of telecom equipments, providing Wi-Fi connections in 250,000 schools, all universities and creating public Wi-Fi hotspots for citizens. In addition, the programme is likely to create 17 million direct and 85 million indirect jobs. Apart from this, the programme will provide for training of 17 million citizens for IT, telecom and electronics jobs, and delivering e-governance services.

A monitoring committee on execution of the Digital India programme is likely to be set up soon. It will be headed by the Prime Minister as the chairman of the panel. Other members of the panel will include ministers of finance, communications and IT, Research and Development, human resources development, and health. The DeitY secretary will be the convenor of the panel.