The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) showcased its pioneering Digital Twin with AI-Driven Insights Initiative at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025, demonstrating how the convergence of telecom, computation, and sensing can revolutionise India’s approach to planning and managing infrastructure. The initiative seeks to enable planners to see clearly, understand the present, simulate the future, and shape outcomes, allowing data-driven decision-making and confident assessment of utility and impact before project execution. The exhibit, developed in collaboration with leading telecom operators and OEMs such as Reliance Jio (RJIL), Bharti Airtel, and Nokia, drew strong engagement from policymakers, technologists, and planners. Demonstrations at IMC 2025 featured three key applications: Urban Mobility Insights from Telecom Data – Using mobility data from telecom networks, DoT demonstrated how real-time origination–destination analysis can reveal commuting patterns, hotspots, and travel behaviours. Case studies from Vasant Kunj and Central Vista in New Delhi showed how these insights can help metro and transport agencies plan infrastructure with greater precision. Tourism Insights from Mobility Data – Using Ayodhya as a pilot, telecom-derived mobility data generated hourly and daily insights on tourist flows, travel modes, and stay durations. The findings revealed distinct movement trends among pilgrims and tourists, supporting better design of tourism facilities and transport links. Connected Traffic and Green Corridor Coordination – In partnership with a telecom OEM, DoT demonstrated how edge computing and computer vision analytics can enable telecom networks to dynamically manage traffic. The system showcased how a green corridor for emergency vehicles can be created in real time, reducing delays and improving coordination. Together, these innovations form the foundation of the DoT’s Sangam Digital Twin Initiative, which seeks to activate data at source, in a privacy-preserving, AI-enabled manner, to improve foresight and reduce risks in infrastructure planning — starting with the transport sector. The exhibit was visited by Tarun Kapoor, Advisor to the Prime Minister, and Dr. Neeraj Mittal, Secretary (Telecom), who interacted with the DoT team to explore live demonstrations of the Mobility Digital Twin. Roundtable On “Planning That Thinks Ahead” Alongside the exhibit, DoT hosted a high-level roundtable on “Planning That Thinks Ahead”, chaired by R. N. Palai, Member (Technology), Digital Communications Commission, and attended by senior officials including S. T. Abbas, Sunil Bajpai, and experts from Nokia Germany, C-DEP, DMRC, RJIL, and Bharti Airtel. Discussions focused on harnessing telecom data for evidence-based and agile planning, highlighting three key priorities: Incentivisation – Rewarding timely, high-quality data contributions through structured frameworks. Policy Certainty – Integrating telecom mobility data and digital twin tools into national planning toolkits. Innovation Enablement – Advancing cross-sectoral pilots that position telecom as an enabler beyond connectivity. Institutionalising Data-Driven Planning Under the Sangam Initiative, DoT is creating a Regulatory-cum-Innovation Sandbox to co-develop AI models, data frameworks, and digital twin toolkits with industry, academia, and domain experts. This ecosystem will ensure secure, interoperable, and incentive-aligned co-development for institutionalised, data-driven planning. The DoT and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) have also set up an Inter-Ministerial Joint Working Group (JWG) to integrate telecom mobility insights and digital twin technologies into urban mobility planning. Collaborations are already under way with institutions such as IISc Bengaluru, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, and transport agencies like DMRC and CUMTA Chennai. The IMC 2025 showcase marks a significant milestone towards making telecom-powered digital twins a core component of citizen-led, AI-driven infrastructure planning, enabling India to move from reactive planning to data-backed foresight and precision.