New Delhi: Delhi’s internet connectivity has expanded sharply over the past decade, with total subscriptions rising from 1.8 crore in 2015 to 5.7 crore in 2025 — an increase of around 217% in 10 years.The figures, published in Delhi govt’s latest state indicator framework status report 2025 and sourced from Telecom Statistics India, represent internet subscriptions rather than unique users. They include all internet subscriptions, including mobile wireless, fixed wireless and wired connections. An individual who uses multiple internet connections like a broadband connection in addition to mobile internet accounts for multiple subscriptions.Delhi has a current population of around 2.3 crore, according to the provisional house-listing data released this June. So, at 5.7 crore, its internet subscriptions are about 2.5 times its population.The data shows internet subscriptions in the capital climbed from 2 crore in 2016 to 2.7 crore in 2017, 3.1 crore in 2018 and 3.6 crore in 2019. The 4-crore mark was crossed in 2020, when subscriptions touched 4.1 crore, before increasing to 4.5 crore in 2021, 4.6 crore the next year, 5.3 crore in 2023, 5.6 crore in 2024 and 5.7 crore in 2025.The biggest annual increase was in 2022-23, when subscriptions rose by 60 lakh — from 4.6 crore to 5.3 crore. Next comes a 51-lakh increase in 2019-20. Growth moderated in the following years, with the subscriber base expanding by 40 lakh in 2020-21, 17 lakh in 2021-22, 38 lakh in 2023-24 and just 11 lakh in 2024-25 — the smallest annual increase during the decade.The surge in subscriptions coincided with the years following demonetisation in 2016 and Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, when digital payments, online education, remote working, e-governance and app-based services became increasingly mainstream. The availability of affordable smartphones, low-cost mobile data and the rollout of high-speed 4G and 5G networks also contributed to the sustained expansion of internet connections in the city.Delhi alone accounted for nearly 6% of the country’s total internet subscriptions in 2025 despite having less than 2% of its population, underlining the capital’s high level of digital penetration.Compared with the national trend, Delhi has witnessed a slightly lower expansion in internet connectivity over the past decade. Internet subscriptions across India increased from 30.2 crore in 2015 to 96.9 crore in 2025, a rise of about 220%, compared with 217% growth in the capital.
