Government to hire agency to estimate size of digital economy

The government is planning to hire an agency to measure the actual size of the digital economy which is estimated to be around $1 trillion by 2025, according to an official document.

The selected agency will be roped in for a period of nine months for the assignment.

The agency will need to submit the draft report on estimation of the size of the digital economy and projections from the current financial year till 2029-30 to Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) within 32 weeks from the date of selection.

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"The RFP aims to invite proposal in the area of estimation and measurement of India’s digital economy including formulation of measurement framework, capturing data and identifying digital interventions," the document said.

The report will also look into state rankings and their share in the digital economy, along with the impact of e-commerce and emerging technology on such economy.

"Collective action is required in a team India spirit with collaboration between government and private/social sectors," the document said.

MeitY had earlier published a report titled 'India’s Trillion Dollar Digital Opportunity' which identifies 30 digital themes ranging from IT infrastructure, software capabilities and healthcare education to next-generation financial services.

It estimated digital transformation to create $1 trillion worth of economic value by 2025, resulting in 60 to 65 million jobs.

"Sectors like agriculture, health and education will benefit in the economic value of $390-500 billion from digitalisation," it added.

According to a joint report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, India's internet economy alone is expected to register six-fold growth and touch $1 trillion by 2030.

The report estimated that India's internet economy was $155-175 billion in 2022.

A report commissioned by Broadband India Forum, which was released early this month, projects India's app economy to reach about $792 billion by 2030 which will be 12 per cent of the country's estimated GDP of $6.59 trillion.