Internet Shutdowns In India By The Government Caused A $2.7 Billion Loss In 2020

India is home to one of the world’s largest internet userbases. That means each time the state government or central government cuts internet access for some reason, a lot of people, businesses, and entities are affected, which leads to huge monetary losses.

VPN and privacy tool tracking firm Top10VPN reported that internet shutdowns in 2020 cost India almost $2.7 billion, more money than the total of the next 10 nations in the chart. India also had the most offline hours last year with 8,927 hours staying offline across different regions. Meanwhile, according to internet shutdowns.in, there are 83 internet shutdowns in the country in 2020.

Jammu and Kashmir were the two regions with the most internet shutdowns in India, happening between August 2019 and March 2020. The Indian government began blocking internet access in the region in August last year, affecting 7 million people living here, after scrapping Article 370 in the Indian constitution that gave the Jammu and Kashmir state government autonomy in certain areas. The state government stopped the restrictions on internet access in prominent sites in March 2020, but many people were still relying on 2G to use the internet.

From a report by the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce, it’s suggested that the internet restriction and shutdown in this region resulted in a loss of $5.3 billion. We cannot tell which number is more accurate but it’s undeniable that people in India suffered from significant losses due to the internet block.

Previously, the Indian government also shut down the internet in many regions following protests against CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) which gives citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from some neighboring countries.

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