iWorld
Modi convinces Silicon Valley about Digital India, lauds Facebook & Google
NEW DELHI: As he entered the extensive office of Facebook in California, he was greeted with the song ‘Chak de India’ and when he left, Prime Narendra Modi left a huge impression about India’s seriousness ongoing digital.
The euphoria was the same when he visited Google, or addressed a meeting of persons from LinkedIn or start-ups.
In various speeches during his visit, Modi said Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were the new neighbourhood.
“If Facebook were a country, it would be the third most populous one and the most connected,” he said.
Similarly, he said Google “has made teachers less awe-inspiring and grandparents more idle. Twitter has turned everyone into a reporter. The traffic lights that need to work the best are on CISCO routers.”
The status that now matters, he said, “is not whether you are awake or asleep but whether you are online or offline. The most fundamental debate for our youth is the choice between Android, iOS or Windows.”
From computing to communication, entertainment to education, from printing documents to printing products, and, now to Internet of Things, it’s been a long journey in a short time.
Referring to digital networks, he said, “We have attacked poverty by using the power of networks and mobile phones to launch a new era of empowerment and inclusion: 180 million new bank accounts in a few months; direct transfer of benefits to the poor; funds for the unbanked; insurance within the reach of the poorest; and, pension for the sunset years for all.”
By using Space technology and internet, the country had been able to identify in the last few months 170 applications that will make governance better and development faster.
“The pace at which people are taking to digital technology defies our stereotypes of age, education, language and income,” he added.
“Customers, more than creators, are defining the use of a product. The world may be driven by the same ancient impulses. We will continue to see human struggles and successes. We will witness human glory and tragedies,” Modi said.
He added that in this digital age, there was an opportunity to transform lives of people in ways that was hard to imagine just a couple of decades ago.
“Today, technology is advancing citizen empowerment and democracy that once drew their strength from Constitutions. Technology is forcing governments to deal with massive volume of data and generate responses, not in 24 hours but in 24 minutes. When you think of the exponential speed and scale of expansion of social media or a service, you have to believe that it is equally possible to rapidly transform the lives of those who have long stood on the margins of hope. So out of this conviction was born the vision of Digital India,” he said.
“It is an enterprise for India’s transformation on a scale that is, perhaps, unmatched in human history. Not just to touch the lives of the weakest, farthest and the poorest citizen of India, but change the way our nation will live and work,” he said. “We will transform governance, making it more transparent, accountable, accessible and participative. I spoke of E-Governance as a foundation of better governance – efficient, economical and effective.”
After MyGov.in, Modi said he had just launched the Narendra Modi Mobile App.
Information, education, skills, healthcare, livelihood, financial inclusion, small and village enterprises, opportunities for women, conservation of natural resources, distributed clean energy – entirely new possibilities have emerged to change the development model.
“We want our 1.25 billion citizens to be digitally connected. We already have broadband usage across India go up by 63 per cent last year. We need to accelerate this further,” he further said.
An aggressive expansion of the National Optical Fibre Network had been launched that will take broadband to our 600,000 villages. “We are expanding our public Wi-Fi hotspots. For example, we want to ensure that free Wi-Fi is not only there in airport lounges, but also on our railway platforms. Teaming up with Google, we will cover 500 railway stations in a short time. We are also setting up Common Service Centres in villages and towns. We will also use information technology to build smart cities,” Modi informed.
“We are also setting up an Electronics Development Fund to support design, development and launch of new products,” he added.
Indians account for 15 per cent of startups in the United States. “Hundreds of thousands of Indian professionals here and in India are contributing to the global success of US enterprises. Many are leading them today. This is the possibility of the digital bridge – to connect distant lives and change fortunes and future,” he said.
Modi said he was delighted that Qualcomm announced a fund of $150 million for startups in India.
iWorld
Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati tour generates Rs 943 crore impact
EY report says 14 concerts across 13 cities sparked jobs, tourism and spending
MUMBAI: What began as a music tour quickly turned into an economic crescendo. The India leg of Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati tour has generated a measurable economic impact of nearly Rs 943 crore, according to a socio-economic impact report prepared by EY.
Spread across two months in late 2024, the tour travelled through 13 cities with 14 performances, drawing more than 3.2 lakh fans and selling out shows in roughly 10 minutes on average.
The concerts began in New Delhi on October 26 and wrapped up with a New Year’s Eve finale in Ludhiana, the singer’s hometown. In between, the Punjabi superstar turned stages across cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Guwahati into high-energy gatherings where music, fandom and travel blended into a nationwide spectacle.
According to the EY analysis, the tour generated Rs 276 crore in direct revenue for organisers through ticket sales, sponsorships and food and beverage spending at venues. Indirect spending by fans pushed the economic ripple effect even further, contributing an estimated Rs 553 crore through travel, accommodation, tourism and shopping.
Government revenues added another Rs 114 crore, including Rs 111 crore in GST and around Rs 2.5 crore in local permissions and fees.
Ticket sales were the main driver, accounting for about 80 per cent of direct revenue, with prices ranging from Rs 2,499 for silver tickets to as much as Rs 60,000 for premium lounge access. The gold category emerged as the most popular, generating more than half of the ticketing revenue.
The concerts were not just local gatherings. Nearly 38 per cent of attendees travelled from other cities to catch the shows, turning the tour into a travel magnet. Many extended their trips by two to three days, boosting hotel stays, dining and tourism activities in host cities.
Air and rail travel together accounted for around 70 per cent of inter-city travel costs linked to the concerts, while nearly half of travelling fans stayed with friends or family.
Cities hosting the tour also saw noticeable spikes in travel bookings. Flight bookings to Chandigarh, for instance, rose by about 300 per cent year on year around the concert dates, while cities such as Delhi, Ahmedabad and Indore saw booking growth of roughly 100 per cent.
Beyond the stage lights and thumping speakers, the tour also created a significant employment surge. The report estimates that more than 118,000 man-days of work were generated, including about 69,000 direct man-days and over 48,000 indirect man-days across sectors such as security, logistics, hospitality and technical production.
Security, safety and crowd management alone accounted for roughly half of the direct employment created during the concerts, reflecting the scale of operations required to stage such large events.
More than 15 brands partnered with the tour, turning concerts into a playground for creative marketing. From themed merchandise drops to experiential campaigns and exclusive ticket access deals, companies tapped into the singer’s massive fan base to amplify their reach.
The official ticketing platform recorded over 62.5 lakh visitors during the sales window and processed more than 1.2 lakh ticket orders, underscoring the intense demand for live events anchored by home-grown artists.
The tour also doubled as a cultural roadshow. At each stop, Dosanjh embraced local traditions, sampled regional cuisine and showcased India’s diversity through his social media posts and stage interactions, turning concert stops into mini travel diaries.
For the wider entertainment industry, the Dil-Luminati tour is being seen as a marker of how large-scale live concerts can drive economic activity well beyond the stage. The report suggests that India’s live music sector could grow rapidly in the coming years as demand for large events continues to surge.
In other words, the Dil-Luminati tour did more than fill stadiums. It moved crowds, boosted city economies and showed that when live music hits the right note, the ripple travels far beyond the final encore.
