India, Sept. 20 -- His conviction has remained consistent: technology must be harnessed at scale, and it must expand opportunity.

Twenty-five years ago, when Narendra Modi assumed office as Chief Minister of Gujarat, India was at a very different point in its technological journey. The internet was still a privilege for a small section of society, mobile telephony was only beginning to expand, digital payments were unimaginable for most citizens, and the idea that technology could become an instrument of mass governance had barely entered the political vocabulary. Yet even before he entered government, Modi had acquired a reputation within the organization for being unusually comfortable with technology, communication systems and data. A...