New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS): Communication and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Saturday said that Rs.18,000 crore worth of investment proposals have been received till now for the 'Digital India Programme'

Addressing the 87th annual general meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) here, Prasad said that out of the Rs.18,000 crore investment proposals, projects worth Rs.4,000 crore have been approved and more are in the pipeline.

Laying the industry's concerns to rest Prasad said that while there are issues of spectrum to provide high speed connectivity and regulatory control, India will become an exciting place as far as Digital India is concerned.

'E-commerce,' he said, was worth billions of dollars and will help increase India’s GDP in a big way.

Prasad further said that the huge postal network can be used for various services like banking and insurance. The postal services earn Rs.280 crore from e-commerce, he said.

Stating that digital connectivity is needed for good governance, Prasad said that India had more than a $100 billion turnover in the IT industry.

Prasad pointed out that the government has initiated a programme - National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) - which proposes seven lakh kilometers of optical fibre to be laid to connect 250 gram panchayats in three years.

"Wi-fi spots will be provided around the clusters after that and all villages will be provided with internet connectivity," he said.