16,315 hours of internet shutdown over 6 years cost India $3.04 bn: Report

The Internet was switched off 60 times over five years to 2017 in Jammu and Kashmir

Nearly 16,315 hours of Internet shutdown over the six years till 2017 cost India $3.04 billion (Rs 21,336 crore)–1.2 times the 2018-19 budget estimate for the Swachh Bharat Mission–according to an April 2018 report by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), a think tank.

The 12,615 hours of mobile Internet shutdowns in India cost the economy approximately $2.37 billion (Rs 16,590 crore); while 3,700 hours of mobile and fixed-line Internet shutdowns in India cost the economy nearly $678.4 million (Rs 4,746 crore) between 2012 and 2017, said