₹5 lakh crore saved, ₹4 lakh crore transferred: PM Modi on how DBT is reshaping India’s welfare system

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday highlighted the growing role of digital infrastructure in welfare delivery, saying technology has helped reduce leakages while making government schemes more accessible to citizens. Addressing the 10th edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi, Modi pointed to Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) as a major example of how digital systems have changed the delivery of government benefits.

“Mobile phone has become a tool of good governance,” Modi said, describing the transformation in the role of telecom technology over the past decade.

He said the DBT system had not only enabled government funds to reach beneficiaries directly but had also prevented money from being diverted. “Nearly Rs 5 lakh crore was saved from going into wrong hands,” Modi said.

The scale of the DBT architecture can also be seen in the government's flagship welfare programmes. Modi cited the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan), under which more than Rs 4 lakh crore has been transferred to farmers. The scheme provides direct income support to eligible farmers, with payments routed into their bank accounts.

Modi also referred to the political resistance that accompanied the shift from the earlier system of welfare distribution.
“Those who have lost this earning would not love Modi,” he said.

The comments underline the government's argument that digitisation has altered not just the speed of welfare payments but also the accountability of the delivery chain. By transferring benefits directly into beneficiaries' accounts, DBT reduces the need for intermediaries and makes it easier to track the flow of government funds.

Modi linked this transformation to the wider expansion of mobile connectivity in India. He said hundreds of government services can now be accessed through mobile phones, reducing the need for citizens to travel, wait or depend on physical government offices.

“Mobile phone is no longer a medium of chat, but this has led to less travel, less waiting and more convenience and this is the largest citizen dividend of technology,” Modi said.

The government has increasingly positioned mobile connectivity, digital identity and bank accounts as interconnected layers of India's digital public infrastructure. Together, these systems have enabled welfare payments to be delivered at a scale that would have been difficult through conventional channels.

Modi said the country had moved from a period when the digital divide was a major concern to one where new technologies are increasingly becoming a privilege. He also highlighted the role of digital platforms in education and public services, citing DIKSHA, which he said had recorded 500 crore learning sessions and 600 crore learning minutes.

The broader message from the IMC was that India's telecom expansion is no longer only about connectivity. From DBT and farmer payments to education and government services, mobile and digital infrastructure are increasingly becoming part of the country's welfare-delivery architecture.