India’s Digital Economy To Contribute 20% Of National Income By 2029-30

India’s digital economy will likely become a major driver of national income, contributing nearly one-fifth of the country’s GDP by 2029-30.

This will mark a significant shift, as it surpasses sectors like agriculture and manufacturing within the next six years.

As of 2022-23, the digital economy accounted for 11.74% of the GDP, amounting to INR 31.64 lakh crore (USD 402 billion). It has also proven to be a powerful engine of growth, employing 14.67 million people (2.55% of the workforce) and achieving productivity nearly five times higher than other sectors, according to the Ministry of Electronics & IT.

According to the State of India’s Digital Economy Report 2024, India has become the third-largest digitalized economy globally in terms of overall digitalization.

Additionally, India ranks 12th among the G20 nations in individual user digitalization.

India’s digital transformation will likely gain momentum, especially through the expansion of digital intermediaries and platforms.

This will lead to a broader digitalization across various industries, such as banking, retail, and education, contributing an additional 2% to Gross Value Added (GVA).

The adoption of technologies like AI, cloud services, and the establishment of global capability centres (GCCs) will further accelerate growth.

India hosts 55% of the world’s GCCs, which support research, IT services, and business process management for multinational companies.

Digital Economy Workforce Growth

The digital economy’s workforce is growing, with 14.67 million people employed in 2022-23. Over half of these jobs (58.07%) are in digital-enabling industries.

While the workforce remains male-dominated, digital platforms are helping to create more job opportunities for women, particularly in industries where mobility and safety have traditionally been challenges.

Digital adoption varies by sector. Retail has quickly embraced digital transformation, with businesses using digital tools for customer acquisition and business development.

In the BFSI sector, while over 95% of payment transactions are digital, revenue-generating activities such as loans and investments remain offline.

Retail businesses are increasingly adopting omnichannel models, combining online and physical stores, while AI-driven tools are improving inventory management.

In education, institutions are adopting a mix of offline, online, and hybrid learning models, with hybrid approaches becoming the most popular.

The hospitality and logistics sectors are undergoing significant digitalization, leveraging AI, the metaverse, and other digital tools.

Large firms in these industries have fully digitalized operations, while smaller businesses are still catching up.

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