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India's internet economy is expected to reach US$1 trillion by 2030

Jingyue Hsiao, DIGITIMES Asia, Taipei 0

Credit: AFP

Thanks to increasing internet adoption by consumers, the digitalization of enterprises, and efforts by the government, India's internet economy is expected to reach US$1 trillion by 2030.

According to "The e-Conomy India 2023 - The economy of a billion connected Indians" report released by Google, Bain & Company, and Temasek on June 6, India's internet economy is expected to grow from US$155–175 billion in 2022 to US$900–1,000 billion by 2030, with the internet economy contribution share to GDP growing from 4–5% to 12–13% during the same period.

Sanjay Gupta, country head and vice president of Google India, said India is at a turning point in the digital transformation thanks to deepening digital consumer adoption, technology investments by businesses, and digital democratization with the India Stake.

Parijat Ghosh, the managing partner at Bain and Company India, said that India's internet economy is expected to grow at 6x over the next decade, and the pace of digital disruption is expected to accelerate as traditional businesses and MSMEs increase their digital investments, in addition to startups continuing to play a strong role in driving the internet economy.

According to data from the report, with 17.6% of the global population, India accounts for only 2.4% of global digital exports, far less than China's 12.7% and Southeast Asia's 7.1%. However, the report expects SaaS to be a key driver of Indian digital exports, with export revenues anticipated to grow from US$9-10 billion in 2022 to US$20-25 billion in 2025. Meanwhile, India's edtech and e-commerce industry may help to drive India's digital exports.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India has 865.90 million internet subscribers as of December 2023, up 1.76% from a quarter ago. Of the total internet subscribers, 832.20 million use broadband (more than 512Kbps). TRAI has proposed increasing the broadband speed's definition from 512Kbps to 2Mbps.

Internet economy size by sectors (US$b)

Sector

2022

2030

B2C e-commerce

60-65

350-380

B2B e-commerce

8-9

105-120

SaaS

12-13

65-75

Online travel

13-15

55-60

Online media

8-9

40-50

Online food delivery

8-9

35-40

Edtech

4-5

20-25

Healthtech

1-2

20-25

Online ride-hailing

4-5

17-20

Others

37-43

175-210

Source: Google, Bain & Co, Temasek, June 2023