The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) hosted a seminar titled “Governing Digital India: A Report on Institutions and Instruments” on Thursday, October 30, 2025.

The seminar featured a presentation by Deepak Maheshwari, Senior Policy Advisor, CSEP, drawing insights from a recent CSEP Report. The presentation was followed by a conversation with Shyamal Ghosh, Former Secretary, Telecom & IT; V. Sridhar, Professor, Centre for IT and Public Policy, IIIT Bangalore; and Shweta Rajpal Kohli, President and CEO, Startup Policy Forum. The session was chaired and moderated by Laveesh Bhandari, President, CSEP.

About the event

Digital ecosystem – already a key enabler of inclusion, growth and development in India, would become even more important in its journey towards Viksit Bharat by 2047, considering the wide-spread digitalisation underway and emergence of new technologies such as IoT, quantum computing and AI. However, the prevailing siloed approach is leading to undesirable gaps and overlaps notwithstanding the ensuing convergence across telecom, information technology and broadcasting.

This report traces the past evolution, analyses the present and proposes future pathways by reimagining the public institutions and the policy instruments using the 3C framework of Carriage (wired and wireless infrastructure), Content (data, voice and video) and Conduct (cybersecurity, data protection, competition and sustainability, etc.).

By drawing lessons from both within India as well as select overseas jurisdictions, it proposes three broad options going forward – maintaining the status quo with improved coordination; consolidating carriage and content across two ministries, or establishing a unified Ministry of Digital Ecosystem with a single regulator and law. Each option presents trade-offs, but a coordinated, agile framework is essential to foster innovation, ensure regulatory clarity, and support India’s digital transformation.

Chair & Moderator

Laveesh Bhandari 

Laveesh Bhandari is President and a Senior Fellow at CSEP.  Dr Bhandari has published widely on subjects related to sustainable livelihoods, industrial, economic, and social reforms in India, economic geography, and financial inclusion. He received his PhD in economics from Boston University for which he was awarded the Best Thesis in International Economics. He has taught economics at Boston University and IIT Delhi. Apart from applied economics research, Dr Bhandari has built, seeded, and exited from three companies in the research, analytics, and digital domains, including Indicus Analytics, a leading economic research firm. Currently, he is conducting research on issues of inclusion, India’s energy transition, and how it will impact the government as well as the economy.

Presenter

Deepak Maheshwari

Deepak Maheshwari is a thought leader with a keen interest in exploring the interplay across public policy, technological innovation, and socio-economic development. With over three decades of experience, as a speaker and author his views are widely sought, published, and cited for their clarity and holistic perspective.

He is Senior Policy Advisor at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP), Advisor at the Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion (ICFI), and a member of the Public Affairs Advisory Board at Palo Alto Networks. His prior affiliations include CUTS, Centre for the Digital Future, and Public Affairs Forum of India, as well as ICRIER, where he supported the Department of Telecommunications during India’s G20 Presidency.

Deepak has served on government committees on artificial intelligence and accessibility. He has also volunteered as Global Chair of the IEEE Internet Initiative, Secretary of the ISP Association of India, and advisory board member of the IIM Ahmedabad–Idea Telecom Centre of Excellence.

Previously, he led public policy efforts at Microsoft, Mastercard, Symantec, and Sify, covering regions including India, South Asia, ASEAN, and China.

A graduate in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, he also holds a law degree, providing him with a multidisciplinary lens with sharp insights across technology, governance, and inclusion.

Panellists

Shyamal Ghosh

Shyamal Ghosh is an IAS officer of 1965 batch belonging to Gujarat cadre. He has been chairman of the Telecom Commission and secretary, Department of Telecommunications in the past and has served in various capacities including secretary, Department of Electronics; director general, Directorate General of Foreign Trade; administrator, Universal Service Obligation Fund; and secretary, textiles. He was also chairman of the Data Security Council of India,  Broadband India Forum and Telecom Equipment & Services Export Promotion Council. It was during his tenure that the Convergence Communications Bill was introduced.

He graduated in economics from Scottish Church College, Kolkata, and was awarded a master’s degree in economics from Calcutta University.

V. Sridhar

V. Sridhar is a Professor at the Centre for IT and Public Policy at the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore, India.  He is the author of three books: Telecom Revolution in India: Technology, Regulation and Policy (2012), The Dynamics of Spectrum Management: Legacy, Technology, and Economics (2014), and Emerging ICT Policies and Regulations: Roadmap to Digital Economies (2019). His edited a book titled Data-Centric Living: Algorithms, Digitization and Regulation was published by Routledge (2022). He is co-authoring a new tile “5G and Beyond: Rewiring Telecom Regulation”, which is under publication at the Oxford University Press.

He has taught at many institutions in the USA, Finland, New Zealand and India. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, U.S.A. during May-June, 2021; April-May, 2022, June 2024 and Mar-July, 2025. He has received funding from different sources, both national and international for his research projects, recent ones being from Facebook. He has been a member of Government of India committees on Telecom and IT and has published many peer-reviewed articles in telecom and information systems journals. He has also written more than 300 article in newspapers and magazines on telecom regulation in India. Dr Sridhar has a PhD from the University of Iowa, U.S.A. His complete work can be accessed at: http://www.vsridhar.info .

Shweta Rajpal Kohli

Shweta Rajpal Kohli is President and CEO, Startup Policy Forum. A public policy and media veteran with over 27 years of experience across global venture capital, technology and media companies. Shweta heads the Startup Policy Forum. She has led public policy teams in Asia for Peak XV, Sequoia Capital India, Salesforce and Uber. She has worked closely with founders, government officials and regulators to champion key issues within the startup ecosystem. An award-winning journalist, Shweta provided in-depth coverage of India’s economic policy-making landscape during her media career.

All content reflects the individual views of the speakers. The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) does not hold an institutional view on any subject.

Please contact Gurmeet Kaur at GKaur@csep.org for general queries and Ayesha Manocha at AManocha@csep.org for media queries.

In the Media

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