India’s digital economy to grow over fivefold to $1 trillion by 2030: report

A vendor is seen displaying several payment modes — a testament to India’s growing digital economy (File used for representational purposes only)
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

According to a joint research report released on June 6 by Google, Temasek, and Bain and Company, India’s digital economy is expected to surge more than fivefold to $1 trillion by 2030, led by a growing appetite for digital products and services — especially in its smaller cities.

Titled India e-Conomy Report, the research states that India is in its ‘Digital Decade’ and its internet economy will grow to 12-13% of its GDP by the end of the decade from the current 4-5%. A phenomenal rise in online activities for day-to-day life has put India well ahead of some of the world’s largest economies.

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“As India undergoes a dramatic boom that will see household consumption doubling by 2030, digital commerce will invariably become even more entrenched in Indians’ everyday experience,” the report said.

The inaugural report on India was driven by its potential—the growing interest of consumers from Tier 2+ towns and cities in digital products and services, rapid digitisation of large businesses and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and the success of India’s national digital infrastructure.

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Services such as Aadhaar, United Payments Interface (UPI) and Digilocker have been instrumental in unlocking the potential of India’s digital economy. The report tracked the performance of key digital sectors — business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B), online travel, food delivery, media, ride-hailing, edtech, healthtech, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) — and outlined the opportunities, challenges and enablers for growth.

According to the report, B2B will continue to dominate digital services, growing five to six times to $350-$380 billion by 2030; the number of online shoppers is expected to double to 500-550 million. Software as a service, eCommerce and EdTech is expected to lead the upswing in India’s digital exports.

”Global interest in adopting India’s digital frameworks is cementing the country’s position as a digital technology leader,” the report added.