India Likely to Become USD 5 trillion Economy in Next 8-9 Years

BW Online Bureau Jan 18, 2018

Speaking at the 12th India Digital Summit, organized by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce and Industry said that India is expected to become a USD 5 trillion economy in the next 8-9 years with the manufacturing sector alone contributing 20 percent to that.

He said: “We are preparing a detailed plan what will be going in that manufacturing." He added that experts who are involved in manufacturing are preparing the roadmap and including all sectors where manufacturing can be promoted. The minister said if manufacturing alone is digitised it will create a huge opportunity for technology firms.

He also mentioned that he is currently working on a strategy for international trade which will contribute USD 2 trillion to the economy where the contribution can come from both manufacturing and services. "India is not only bridging digital divide but also helping people scale up their income," Prabhu said.

Earlier, in his address to the delegates, Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog said every Indian will have a smartphone in the next five years He said that this was a period of huge technology disruption in the country. "Today, 85 percent of the devices are still unconnected. Therefore, there is a huge opportunity in the Internet of Things (IoT) space. The opportunity would be in the range of $70 billion by 2025," he said.

According to Kant, Artificial Intelligence (AI) alone will generate the opportunity to the tune of $32 billion. "Advanced robotics are already handling 25 percent of the jobs. This will rise to 45 percent in the coming years."

"India is already ranked globally as the most active Internet user globally on a monthly basis. The Digital transaction will touch $100 trillion in the next 10 years," he told the audience. Kant added that with 99 percent Aadhaar penetration and bank account opened under Jan Dhan Yojana, the scope was immense for the FinTech industry.

Smt. Aruna Sundararajan, Chairman TC & Secy (IT), Dept of Telecommunication, Govt of India, said: “For Internet of Things (IoT) to happen, we need to have a robust 4G ecosystem in the country. I am hopeful that by the end of this year, we will have a pan-India 4G network availability.” The government has constituted a task force for national mission and vision for rolling out 5G network in the country. The taskforce will come out with the roadmap soon and the Dept of Telecommunications is keen on partnering with key telecom providers in the roll out stage.

Underlining on increasing the Internet penetration in the country, she said that the government aspires to increase the wifi access points from 40, 000 to 5 lakhs by the end of 2018.