Delhi’s internet connectivity has expanded significantly over the past decade, with the number of internet subscriptions rising from 1.8 crore in 2015 to 5.7 crore in 2025, marking a growth of around 217%, according to the Delhi government’s latest State Indicator Framework Status Report 2025.
The figures, sourced from Telecom Statistics India, refer to internet subscriptions and not individual users. The data includes mobile wireless, fixed wireless and wired internet connections.
A single person with multiple connections, such as a broadband connection along with mobile internet access, is counted multiple times in the subscription data.
Delhi, which currently has a population of around 2.3 crore based on provisional house-listing data released in June, had 5.7 crore internet subscriptions in 2025. This means the capital’s internet subscriptions were around 2.5 times its population.
The data shows a steady rise in internet subscriptions throughout the decade. The subscriber base increased from 2 crore in 2016 to 2.7 crore in 2017, 3.1 crore in 2018 and 3.6 crore in 2019.
Internet subscriptions crossed the 4-crore mark in 2020, reaching 4.1 crore. The numbers continued to rise to 4.5 crore in 2021, 4.6 crore in 2022, 5.3 crore in 2023, 5.6 crore in 2024 and 5.7 crore in 2025.
Delhi’s internet growth slows after rapid expansion
The biggest year-on-year increase was recorded between 2022 and 2023, when internet subscriptions jumped by 60 lakh, from 4.6 crore to 5.3 crore.
The second-largest annual rise came in 2019-20, when subscriptions increased by 51 lakh.
However, growth moderated in subsequent years. The subscription base expanded by 40 lakh in 2020-21, 17 lakh in 2021-22, 38 lakh in 2023-24 and only 11 lakh in 2024-25, the smallest annual increase during the decade.
The rise in internet adoption coincided with major shifts towards digital services after demonetisation in 2016 and during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Increased use of digital payments, online education, remote working, e-governance services and app-based platforms contributed to the growth in internet usage.
Affordable smartphones, low-cost mobile data and the expansion of high-speed 4G and 5G networks also supported the increase in connectivity across the city.
Delhi accounts for nearly 6% of India’s internet subscriptions
Delhi accounted for nearly 6% of India’s total internet subscriptions in 2025, despite having less than 2% of the country’s population, highlighting the high level of digital penetration in the capital.
However, Delhi’s growth in internet subscriptions over the past decade was marginally lower than the national expansion.
Across India, total internet subscriptions increased from 30.2 crore in 2015 to 96.9 crore in 2025, registering a growth of around 220%. In comparison, Delhi’s subscriptions grew 217% during the same period.
With inputs from TOI
