📄 Abstract
Digitalisation is transforming the institutional foundations of contemporary governance. Traditionally, state capacity has been understood in terms of administrative organisation, fiscal resources, legal authority, human resources and the ability of governments to implement public policies. In the digital era, these conventional dimensions are increasingly supplemented by digital infrastructure, data governance, interoperability, cybersecurity, digital competencies and algorithmic accountability. Digital transformation therefore represents not simply the adoption of new technologies but a broader restructuring of administrative institutions and public-service delivery. India provides an important context for examining this transformation. Initiatives such as Digital India, Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), DigiLocker and other components of digital public infrastructure have created an increasingly interconnected digital ecosystem. These developments have expanded opportunities for integrated service delivery, information sharing, administrative coordination and citizen access. At the same time, they have generated new institutional challenges relating to privacy, cybersecurity, digital exclusion, fragmented administrative capacity and the governance of artificial intelligence. This paper conceptually examines the transformation of state capacity in the digital era, with particular reference to India. It is based on secondary sources, including scholarly literature, government reports, policy documents, legislation and institutional publications. The paper argues that digitalisation does not replace traditional state capacity; rather, it extends and restructures it. It proposes a multidimensional Digital State Capacity Framework consisting of digital infrastructure, interoperability, human capacity, data capacity, accountability, security and privacy, inclusion and service capacity. The paper concludes that the effectiveness of digital governance should be assessed not merely through the number of digital services but through the capacity of institutions to convert technological resources into accessible, accountable, secure and citizen-centred public value.
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📚 How to Cite:
Dr. Punamdeep Singh , RECONCEPTUALISING STATE CAPACITY IN THE DIGITAL ERA: INSTITUTIONAL TRANSFORMATION AND PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY IN INDIA , Volume 12 , Issue 10, October 2026, EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR) , Pages: 298 - 307 ,