Over 17 crore bank accounts opened under Jan Dhan scheme

Over 17 crore bank accounts have been opened under the Jan Dhan financial inclusion scheme, the government said on Friday listing the delivery status on promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech last year.

The information and broadcasting ministry said in a release that "17.28 crore accounts have been opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) out of which 10.44 crore accounts are in rural areas and 6.84 crore in urban areas".

"Deposits of Rs.20,769.33 crore has been mobilized. 15.26 crore RuPay Debit cards have been issued under PMJDY," it said.

Noting the initiatives taken towards ease of doing business in India following Modi's announcement of the Make in India campaign on August 15, 2014, the release said: "After the launch of the Make in India initiative, FDI inflows into India have increased by 48 percent at a time when FDI inflows across the world have fallen by 16 percent."

"Many key sectors such as railways, defence, insurance, pension and medical devices have seen unprecedented liberalization of foreign Direct investment policy and opening up of foreign investment caps," it said.

In his address from Red Fort last year Modi had said he wanted to connect every Indian through technology, provide governance via mobile phones and have every village on a broadband platform.

The prime minister's programme of Digital India also includes setting up a national optical fibre network up to the village level.

"Optical Fibre for broadband connectivity has reached 24,15 gram panchayat. 55505 kms of optical fiber cable laid," the release said.

Regarding the government's target of mobile connectivity covering 42,300 villages by the fiscal 2018, the ministry said that rural tele-density had reached approximately 48.37 percent by end April this year.