Internet services sector in India to reach $124bn by 2022

26 Oct '18

3 min read

The internet services sector in India has a potential to reach $124 billion by 2022 if certain critical factors are realised, says a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). The sector includes e-tail, fin-tech, food-tech, digital classifieds, digital advertisements, e-travel and ticketing, edu-tech and digital entertainment.

The Indian internet services sector is currently valued at $33.8 billion, and is expected to reach $76.4 billion by 2022, says the report titled 'Economic Impact of Internet Services in India'. Right now, the market size in 2022 has been estimated considering the growth of existing sub-sectors in internet services. However, it has the potential to grow bigger, owing to rapid innovations and emergence of new sub-sectors.

The critical factors identified by the report, which can lead the sector to grow to its potential are forward looking and supportive government policies, better infrastructure for widespread internet connectivity, developed distribution network enabling better reach and connectivity to customers in tier II/III cities for e-commerce, adoption of digital and advanced technologies across the ecosystem and offline sectors, etc.

IAMAI, in course of the study has recognized that the digitization of conventional sectors being enabled by the internet services, can have long run positive consequences for the Indian economy. There are currently around 51 million SMEs in India, which contribute approximately 37 per cent of the manufacturing output, 46 per cent of exports and employ 117 million people. It has been observed that digitally enabled SMEs generate 2x revenues as compared to offline SMEs, attributed to the access to a wider base of customers, newer geographies/markets, additional sales channel etc. However, presently only 2 per cent of these SMEs are digitally enabled. There is a conscious effort by government agencies and internet businesses to digitize SMEs, and this trend is expected to generate immense benefits.

By the year 2022, India is expected to become a country of 1.4 billion people. With the proliferation of affordable internet connectivity, the number of internet users in the country is projected to increase 1.6x times from 481 million to reach 762 million in 2022. Along with increased availability of internet connectivity, the number of smartphone users in India too is estimated to grow at 1.75x times to reach 526 million in 2022. On the technology and business side of the internet services, internet will fundamentally change the way the needs, aspirations and demands of the consumers will be addressed. Pivoting on that, the internet services sector is expected to witness plethora of changes in the future. (PC)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

More Information Technology News - India...