India building the world's most extensive public information infrastructure: PM Modi at Sydney Dialogue

Delivering the keynote address at The Sydney Dialogue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India's digital revolution is rooted in democracy, demography, and the scale of the economy. PM Modi said that India is building the world's most extensive public information infrastructure.

"Over 1.3 billion Indians have a unique digital identity. We are on our way to connecting 600,000 villages with broadband. We have built the world's most efficient payment infrastructure, the UPI," he said. 

He also said that over 800 million Indians use the internet; 750 million are on smartphones, which makes India the largest consumer of data per capita and has one of the world's cheapest data. 

PM Modi's address was preceded by introductory remarks by the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

The Sydney Dialogue is being held from November 17-19. It is an initiative of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. It aims to bring together political, business and government leaders to debate, generate new ideas and work towards a common understanding of the opportunities and challenges posed by emerging and critical technologies.

"The greatest product of technology today is data. In India, we have created a robust framework of data protection, privacy and security," PM Modi added. 

Meanwhile, the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 that seeks to protect personal data of individuals and establishes a Data Protection Authority, is scheduled for debate in the Parliament in the coming Winter Session.