New Delhi: India has outpaced the USA in the internet user base and has become second largest after China. As per the NASSCOM) – Akamai Technologies report titled “The Future of Internet in India”, Internet population in India will double to ~730 million users in India by 2020. Rural hinder land will be primary growth driver for this stupendous growth in internet population. Nearly 75% of new internet user growth will come from rural areas, revealed by the report.
Speaking at the launch of the report yesterday in New Delhi, Mr. R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM stated that, “India’s Internet consumption has already exceeded USA to become No. 2 globally. Keeping into consideration the massive impact that the Internet is creating across sectors, it has become the greatest disruptor of our age by changing the way we work, interact socially and live life in general. By 2020, the Internet is expected to penetrate deeper in the hinterlands of the country, helping to create more opportunities for everyone.”
The predicts globally, the number of Internet users is expected to touch 4,170 million by 2020. The growth of the Internet has successfully created a strong ecosystem for new businesses to tap into growing markets and create solutions to address their demands.
“The start-up ecosystem in India, coupled with the government’s initiatives make the Internet accessible to every citizen across the country, is helping India set the stage to enable large numbers of ‘netizens’ to reap the benefits of the Internet. With the rise of digital natives and the increased adoption of smartphones, Internet penetration in India will stretch beyond the large cities, as more services and devices come online. This is also a great opportunity for enterprises to harness the power of the Internet to innovate and scale operations,” said Mr. Sidharth Malik, Vice President and Managing Director, India, Akamai Technologies.
On industry specific emerging trends due to rapid adoption of internet, the report find that the online shopping will account for two-thirds of the total e-Commerce market, edging out travel. The overall e-Commerce market in India was valued $17 billion in FY 2016, and by 2020, India will have an estimated 702 million smart phones in use and mobile phones will emerge as the preferred device for shopping, accounting for 70% of total online shopping.
Further, the report mentioned that 50% of travel transactions will done via online by 2020. Travel across India, for social visits, leisure, shopping and holidays is all set to increase and more people will be booking online, taking advantage of competitive pricing offered by online travel agents (OTAs) and aggregators.
Going forward, while mobile will be a key access device, larger devices will continue to be important in areas like education and business. Multiple stakeholders will need to work in tandem to bring the next generation of Internet users (rural based, mobile centric, local language focused) online in India.
