In March 2014 one gigabyte of mobile data cost Rs 269 in India. By June 2024 it cost Rs 8.31. The price fell by 97% in ten years.
Over the same period the number of internet users rose from 25.15 crore to 96.9 crore. Cheap data brought about 72 crore more Indians online.
Price of mobile data and internet users, 2014 and 2024
Average cost per GB in rupees; internet users in crore
Source: Minister of State for Communications, statement to Parliament as reported by All India Radio, December 2024; based on TRAI data
What happened in between
The biggest break came in September 2016, when Reliance Jio launched with free data and then very cheap 4G plans. Rival operators cut prices to match. Some exited or merged. The market consolidated into three large private operators and the state owned BSNL.
Prices have risen a little since their lowest point, after several rounds of tariff increases. They remain among the lowest in the world.
What cheap data made possible
Cheap data changed how India uses the internet. Most Indians came online through a smartphone, not a computer. Video, messaging and payments grew together.
- Payments. UPI grew from about 2 crore payments in FY2017 to 24,162 crore in FY2026. See UPI's first decade in numbers.
- Video. Streaming and short video account for most of the data Indians use.
- Government services. Aadhaar authentication, DigiLocker and direct benefit transfers all depend on a phone with data.
A caution on the numbers
The cost per GB is an average across plans and users. Heavy users on large plans pay less per GB than light users on small plans. The headline figures come from a government statement based on TRAI data, rather than a single published TRAI table.