India’s digital economy is growing at 2.8% per annum and is expected to reach USD 1 trillion by 2027-28, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said at an outreach programme. Additionally, the minister stated that the value of the IndiaAI mission will be increased to INR 20,000 crore from INR 10,000 crore.
The government had previously anticipated that India would achieve the USD 1 trillion milestone by 2026-27. However, the target has been postponed by a year due to various factors, such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Digital economy is growing at the rate of 2.8% because of the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His vision, established in 2015, has been successful. We are currently the fastest-growing digital economy in the world. We are aiming to be USD 1 trillion digital economy by 2027-28,” Chandrasekhar said.
He was speaking at “Vishesh Sampark Abhiyan’ on Monday evening at Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri‘s official residence. Leaders from approximately 300 IT companies, startups, and the technology industry were present at the event.
The minister mentioned that the prime minister has already given approval for INR 1 lakh crore as a seed fund. This fund will be utilized for research and development in fuel innovation and the India AI mission, with a total value of INR 20,000 crore.
The cabinet has approved only around INR 10,000 crore for India AI mission but the minister said the total value is about INR 20,000 crore, “including some other factors that cannot be disclosed at the moment’.
“One of the big things that he (the prime minister) has done is to take these young Indians and make them globally competitive and become globally talented entrepreneurs that the world today respects,” he said.
The minister stated that the primary request from the technology industry is for the momentum of development to be sustained.
“There are many, many more things to be done to continue this growth, including access to capital, lower cost of capital, issues of customs, duties for manufacturing. These are all things on the government’s radar.
“We are very determined to make sure that the momentum continues. The Indian innovation ecosystem continues to grow and will become one of the leading innovation ecosystems in the world,” Chandrasekhar said.
He said every Indian will have an internet connection and will be fully digitally empowered as part of Prime Minister’s vision for Digital India launched in 2015.
