From Information Technology to Digital Public Infrastructure: the Evolution of India’s Economic Growth

This study investigated the empirical relationship between digital transformation and macroeconomic performance in India utilizing official time-series data from 2011 to 2025. The findings demonstrate that key digital transformation indicators—specifically internet penetration, digital payment adoption, and ICT sector expansion—exhibit a positive and statistically significant impact on economic growth. These empirical results align closely with endogenous growth theory and contemporary literature, reinforcing the premise that digital technology adoption enhances aggregate productivity and structural efficiency. The empirical analysis reveals that digital public infrastructure and platform ecosystems have served as primary drivers of structural transformation. By elevating service sector productivity, expanding financial inclusion, and lowering market entry barriers, digitalization has reshaped domestic economic interactions. However, the findings also indicate that the gains from digital adoption remain unevenly distributed. Persistent regional disparities, digital literacy gaps, and institutional frictions continue to pose challenges to achieving fully inclusive growth. From a policy standpoint, these conclusions underscore the necessity of a integrated digital growth framework. Maximizing the long-term economic dividend of digitalization will require sustained public-private investment in universal broadband infrastructure, targeted workforce upskilling programs, and proactive regulatory governance. Priorities must center on expanding coverage in historically underserved geographies while safeguarding data protection and market competition. Future research may extend this framework by leveraging granular sectoral or regional panel data to capture the dynamic and distributional impacts of digital transformation across micro-enterprises and labor market segments.

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