The concept of "IT & Digital" in India is best understood as a dual framework: the legal foundation and the national development initiative.
The legal foundation is the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act), which is an Act of the Indian Parliament, notified on October 17, 2000. Its origin lies in the need to provide legal recognition for electronic transactions and commerce, following the principles of the UNCITRAL Model Law on E-commerce. The Act, which contains 94 sections across 13 chapters, works by giving legal validity to electronic records and digital signatures, and it defines and prescribes penalties for cybercrimes. It has extra-territorial jurisdiction, applying to offenses committed outside India if a computer system in India is involved. The IT Act connects to and amended the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, to make them compliant with new technologies. The Act was significantly amended by the IT (Amendment) Act, 2008. More recently, the subordinate legislation, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, has seen amendments, such as the 2025 and 2026 rules, which tighten norms for content removal and mandate labeling of AI-generated media.
The national development initiative is the Digital India program, a flagship scheme launched on July 1, 2015, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Coordinated by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), its vision is to transform India into a "digitally empowered society and knowledge economy". The program works through three core vision areas: providing digital infrastructure as a utility, delivering governance and services on demand, and digitally empowering citizens. This is implemented via nine pillars, including Broadband Highways and e-Kranti (Electronic Delivery of Services). Digital India connects to and integrates major projects like BharatNet, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and DigiLocker, forming a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) ecosystem. The program is ongoing, with its budget extended until 2025-26.