India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to make sure his country’s population can get fast Internet as soon as possible.
In fact, he’s pumping $18 billion into a campaign called “digital week,” which plans to do just that. The move comes after Wi-Fi became available at the iconic Taj Mahal palace for the first time.
“Now we are at a place where we can take off,” a spokesman for Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told Reuters. “The idea is to bridge the gap between haves and have-nots of services and deliverables.”
The plan’s goal is to create over 100 million jobs for Indian citizens.
In May, Modi, who is known for having a strong social media presence and being technologically savvy, grabbed headlines for clashing with Chinese social media users on the popular Weibo service.