Telecom Industry in India: Market Size, Growth & Future

India plans to manufacture mobile phones worth US$ 126 billion by 2025-26.

Advantage India

Robust
Demand

* Tele-density of rural subscribers reached 59.43% as of June 2025.

* Volume of total wireless data usage increased from 59,447 Petabyte during Q4 FY25 to 65,009 Petabyte during Q1 FY26 with quarterly rate of growth 9.36%.

* Also, India is leading the world in mobile data usage at 32 GB per smartphone per month in 2024, as per the Ericsson Mobility Report June 2025.

Attractive
Opportunities

* India’s 5G subscriber base is projected to surge to 980 million by 2030 from 290 million in 2024, while average monthly mobile data use is expected to reach 62 GB per smartphone.

* India has emerged as the world’s third-largest mobile phone exporter with shipments worth Rs. 1,75,665 crore (US$ 20.5 billion) in CY24, driven by the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and greater global value-chain integration.

Policy
Support

* The Union Cabinet approved Rs. 12,195 crore (US$ 1.65 billion) production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom & networking products under the Department of Telecom.

* To drive the development of 6G technology, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has developed a sixth-generation (6G) innovation group.

Increasing
Investments

* In the Union Budget FY26 the Department of Telecommunications and IT was allocated Rs. 81,005.24 crore (US$ 9.27 billion).

* India ranks third in "Annual investment in telecommunication services" and "Domestic market size” as of 2024.

Snapshot Showcase Infographics Reports

Last updated: Oct, 2025

Telecommunications Industry Report

Aug, 2025

Introduction

India’s telecom sector has transformed into one of the most dynamic pillars of the economy, shaping how people connect, communicate, and access services. Over the last decade, the industry has expanded at an unprecedented pace, driven by affordable tariffs, rapid mobile penetration, and the rising demand for digital connectivity. This progress has made India the world’s second-largest telecommunications market as of 2025, with a total subscriber base of 1.21 billion and a tele-density of 86.09%.

The country also ranks among the largest internet markets globally, with 979 million subscribers as of June 2025, underscoring its fast-growing digital ecosystem. According to a report by the GSM Association (GSMA) in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the Indian mobile economy is set to contribute significantly to GDP in the years ahead. Much of this growth has been enabled by liberal and reform-driven government policies, including deregulation of foreign direct investment (FDI), easier market access to telecom equipment, and a fair, competitive regulatory framework. Together, these efforts have ensured affordable services for consumers while making telecom one of the fastest-growing industries and a leading generator of employment opportunities in India.

Market Size

India’s telecom sector continues to demonstrate strong momentum, with gross revenue rising from US$ 39.22 billion in FY24 to US$ 43.42 billion in FY25. As of June 2025, the total tele-density stood at 86.09%, reflecting the widespread reach of connectivity across the country.

The total telephone subscriber base reached 1.21 billion by June 30, 2025, supported largely by wireless services, which accounted for 1,170.88 million subscribers. Among operators, Jio led the market with 483 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel with 294 million, Vodafone Idea with 127 million, and BSNL with 29 million. Internet penetration also continued to rise, with total internet subscribers increasing marginally to 979 million at the end of June 2025, compared with 974 million in May 2025, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Of this, 935 million were wireless internet subscribers, while 44.6 million were wired connections. Wired broadband subscribers alone stood at 44.69 million in June 2025.

Over the past decade, broadband connectivity has seen rapid adoption, with subscriptions rising from 149.75 million in CY16 to 979 million in CY25. This steady expansion underlines the sector’s growing role in driving India’s digital transformation and positioning the country among the world’s largest telecom markets.

Investment/Major Development

With daily increasing subscriber base, there have been a lot of investment and development in the sector. FDI inflow in the telecom sector stood at Rs. 3,43,360 crore (US$ 40.07 billion) between April 2000-March 2025.

Some of the developments in the recent past are:

India accounted for 7.9% of the global smartphone market by value in H1 CY25, up from 7.7% a year earlier, making it the third-largest market worldwide, even as China and the UK saw their shares decline.
On August 22, 2025, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) urged M2M service providers, government ministries and IoT device makers to adopt oneM2M standards, to ensure secure, interoperable and scalable IoT ecosystems in India.
Payments on unified payments interface (UPI) hit an all-time high of 20 billion (by volume), with transactions worth Rs. 24,85,472 crore (US$ 290 billion) in August 2025.
In India, app usage recorded strong growth, with time spent rising to 1.12 trillion hours in 2024, compared with 991 billion hours in 2023 and 841 billion hours in 2022.
On June 16, 2025, TRAI’s Independent Drive Tests showed call drop rates under 2% in most cities, but weaker performance in Delhi, Bihar & Jharkhand, and parts of Sikkim.
On July 10, 2025, Mint reported that Gen Z is driving demand for hyper-personalised, seamless digital lending experiences in India, supported by platforms like RBI’s Unified Lending Platform.
As of March 2025, the Indian telecom sector stands as the fourth-largest recipient of FDI equity inflows in India.
Under the draft National Telecom Policy 2025, the government aims to double annual investment in the telecom sector, targeting Rs. 1,00,000 crore (US$ 11.67 billion) by 2030.
The 5G infrastructure market is set to soar from Rs. 1,19,966 crore (US$ 14 billion) in 2025 to Rs. 49,18,606 crore (US$ 574.4 billion) by 2035, growing at a 45% CAGR on the back of rapid adoption, heavy investments, and large-scale rollouts.
Recently, India added a record 6,450 new 5G base stations (BTS) in July 2025, its strongest monthly rollout in 2025, bringing the nationwide total to 4,92,520 BTS.
As of June 2025, an impressive 42,093 out of 45,934 villages in India’s Northeastern Region now have mobile connectivity, including 40,663 with 4G access, supported by 2,485 towers commissioned through the Digital Bharat Nidhi to extend services in remote and border areas.
Through the BharatNet initiative, India has commissioned 13,01,193 fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections empowering villagers, including farmers, with reliable Wi-Fi to access e-education, e-health, e-governance and e-commerce services.
The total aggregated data consumption in India stood at 61,519 TB in FY25.
The total wireless data usage in India grew at a rate of 17.46% from 1,94,774 PB in FY24 to 2,28,779 PB in FY25.
Out of total data wireless usage, 2G data usage was 218 PB, 3G data usage was 915 PB, 4G data usage was 1,70,603 and 5G data usage was 57,042 PB in FY25.
The contribution of 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G data usage to the total volume of wireless data usage was at 0.10%, 0.40%, 74.57% and 24.93% in FY25.
On February 14, 2025, JioStar officially launched JioHotstar, merging JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar into a single OTT platform with over 3,00,000 hours of content, multi-language support, AI-driven recommendations and premium sports, including IPL and ICC tournaments, into one immersive streaming experience.
India’s 5G subscriber base is projected to surge to 980 million by 2030 from 290 million in 2024.
As of June 2025, the wireless subscriber base of Jio stood at 483 million, followed by Bharti Airtel 294 million, Vodafone Idea 127 million, and BSNL 29 million.
The wireless segment accounted for 96.1% of the total telephone subscriptions in June 2025 while, the wireline accounts for 3.9%.
Bengaluru-based gear maker Tejas Networks has won a three-year deal (2024 to 2027) from Vodafone Idea (Vi) to supply backhaul equipment for India's third-largest telecom operator's 4G and commercial fifth-generation or 5G networks.
The telecom industry recorded 10.72% sequential growth in gross revenue (AGR) at Rs. 3,72,097 crore (US$ 43.42 billion) in FY25 from Rs. 3,36,066 crore (US$ 39.22 billion) in FY24.
On June 26, 2024, Vodafone Idea invested Rs. 3,510 crore (US$ 409 million) to acquire 50 MHz of spectrum across low and mid bands in 11 circles, boosting its 4G capacity and laying the groundwork for 5G rollout.
Union Minister of Communications Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated Bharat Telecom 2025 in New Delhi, highlighting India's growing role as a global telecom exporter and innovation hub.
Airtel Payments Bank surpassed one billion transactions in January 2025, reflecting a 47% YoY growth in transaction volume. The achievement highlights the increasing adoption of digital banking solutions and the bank's diverse business model.
Independent telecom tower companies are expected to spend Rs 21,000 crore (US$ 2.42 billion) for the period between FY25 and FY26 in order to support the telecom companies in expanding rural networks and also improving service quality in urban areas, stated a report by CRISIL Ratings.
Bharti Airtel has become the first private telecom operator to launch mobile services in Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipore districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) and IIT Roorkee have partnered to develop a "Millimetre Wave Transceiver for 5G Rural Connectivity," supported by the Telecom Technology Development Fund. The project aims to improve affordable broadband and mobile services, bridging India’s digital divide.
Vodafone Idea (Vi), boosted by a recent equity funding, plans to open more retail outlets to increase the sales.
India's Bharat 6G alliance and the European telecom industry organization Industry are planning to establish a partnership. This partnership will facilitate cooperation between the two groups in the development of 6G technology.
To make India 5G-ready, there is a push for fiberisation of telecom towers. Currently, 36% of towers are fiberized, and plans involve deploying 12 lakh towers.

Government Initiatives

The Government has fast-tracked reforms in the telecom sector and continues to be proactive in providing room for growth for telecom companies. Some of the key initiatives taken by the Government are as follows:

As of June 30, 2025, the Ministry of Communications reported 3,33,300 PM-WANI Wi-Fi hotspots installed across India.
India’s draft National Telecom Policy 2025 (NTP-25) aspires to achieve 100% 4G coverage and 90% 5G population coverage by 2030 underscoring a bold vision to elevate digital inclusion and infrastructure.
The India government allows 100% foreign participation via the Automatic Route.
To improve Wi-Fi proliferation, Government has launched PM-WANI scheme which aims to accelerate proliferation of internet services for public including farmers by setting up public Wi-Fi Hotspots in the country.
In the Union Budget FY26 the Department of Telecommunications and IT was allocated Rs. 81,005.24 crore (US$ 9.27 billion).
The CCI has granted approval for Data infrastructure trust to acquire 100% of the share capital of ATC telecom infrastructure Private Limited, along with certain related transactions.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a Telecom Tariff (69th amendment) order 2022 on “Tariff for SMS and Cell Broadcast alerts disseminated through Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) platform during disasters/non-disasters”. Department of Telecom (DoT) has requested TRAI to provide tariff for SMS and Cell Broadcast alerts/messages to be disseminated by TSPs through CAP platform during disasters/non-disasters.
On November 15, 2024, Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi launched the Nyaya Maha Abhiyan, a three-year mission with a Rs. 24,000 crore (US$ 2.9 billion) project outlay.
The Government of India intends to establish one hundred labs for creating applications using 5G services in engineering universities as part of the Union Budget 2023, in order to realize a new range of possibilities, business models, and job potential.

Road Ahead

The Indian Government is planning to develop 100 smart city projects, and IoT will play a vital role in developing these cities. Indians downloaded over 24.3 billion apps on their mobiles in 2024 as compared to 25.6 billion downloads in 2023. A major force behind meeting the telecom industry's present and future technological needs is the Atmanirbhar Bharat programme. There had been UPI a push towards developing indigenous 5G technology to help India move towards 5G rapidly. India is also planning for 6G in advance and started investing in the development of 6G technology already.

Note: Conversion rate used in July 2025, Rs. 1 = US$ 0.012

References: Media Reports and Press Releases, Cellular Operators Authority of India (COAI), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Department of Telecommunication (DoT), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), India Services Sector Report by Deloitte, Union Budget 2023-24, PIB

Note: IP - Internet Protocol, PB - Petabytes, FDI- Foreign Direct Investment