How Has 'Digital India' Impacted India's Economy?"

In a significant move, the government plans to measure the size and impact of India's 'digital economy' for the first time. Currently, only agencies carry out such assessments, while a recent Google report projected India's digital economy to reach $1 trillion by 2030.

To provide concrete figures on the size of the digital economy, the government aims to evaluate the number of jobs created since the launch of the 'Digital India' program in 2015, make a five-year projection, and assess the influence on specific sectors like e-commerce.

Digital India Impact to be Assessed Ahead of 2024 Elections

A government document accessed by News18 reveals the government's intention to showcase the effects of the 'Digital India' program on the country's digital landscape since its inception and provide projections from 2023-24 to 2029-30.

Over the next nine months, the government will undertake an extensive exercise to estimate and measure India's digital economy. This process will involve formulating a measurement framework, collecting data, and identifying digital interventions. It will also include a comprehensive review of existing literature and methodologies on digital economy measurement frameworks worldwide to identify a robust and suitable framework for India.

Officials emphasize that this exercise will identify data gaps in estimating the size of India's digital economy, recommend policies to enhance its growth, and identify pathways for focus sectors to contribute to its expansion by 2030.

India is recognized as one of the world's fastest-growing digital economies, primarily driven by digital payments and the adoption of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

Additionally, the government aims to capture the impact of e-commerce and emerging technologies on the digital economy. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) previously published a report titled 'India's Trillion Dollar Digital Opportunity' in 2019.

The government believes that the 'Digital India' program has placed India on a digital roadmap, promoting citizen inclusion and empowerment, expanding the digital economy, generating jobs, fostering entrepreneurship, and attracting investments. It has also propelled India's emergence as a global technology leader, showcasing its capabilities in scalable public digital platforms, fintech, digital infrastructure, and electronics.

The government document highlights the need to analyze various drivers of the digital economy, such as electronics, IT/ITeS (Information Technology/Information Technology-enabled Services), and skilling. It aims to determine their contributions to India's overall digital economy and establish mechanisms to monitor key performance indicators across these categories.