India’s digital economy has the potential to reach up to $4 trillion in just four years, according to India’s tech firms. This outshines the government's goal of making India a $1 trillion digital economy by 2022.
IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who chaired a meeting with industry captains to chalk out a growth plan, said the government will formulate a new set of strategies to support growth including a new electronics policy, software product policy and a framework for data security and protection.
"There was unanimity among all the participants that $1 trillion digital economy is an understatement. India has the immense potential to go to [a] $2 trillion to $3 [trillion] to $4 trillion digital economy," he said.
The meeting was attended by top experts such as Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar, Google India's Rajan Anandan, Wipro's Rishad Premji, Indian Cellular Association national president Pankaj Mohindroo, NIIT chairman Rajendra Pawar and Hike Messenger CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal, among others.
The government has projected that Indian digital economy will be worth $1 trillion by 2022, from around $450 billion at present.
As of now, the Indian telecoms market is estimated to be around $150 billion, its electronics market is worth around $ 100 billion, its IT sector is around $150 billion, e-commerce $30-40 billion. The remainder is contributed by the sharing economy such as taxi hailing services, as well as startups.
The Ministry of Electronics and IT has projected that the IT and IT enabled services sector will grow to $350 billion by 2025, while the electronics sector is poised to touch $300 billion by the same time.
Telecoms and e-commerce are projected to grow to be worth $150 billion each, while the sharing economy and digital skilling each presents a further $30 billion opportunity.
Digital payments, cyber security and Internet of Things -- all of which are expanding rapidly -- are expected to touch $50 billion, $35 billion and $20 billion respectively.
It was also projected that the digital economy will generate 30 million employment opportunities by 2024-25, which is double than the current scenario. The ministry has identified digital payments, Make In India, Start-Up India, Skill India among the key drivers of the digital economy.
This article first published in eGov Innovation