Apart from boosting sectors like information technology, digital communication and online retail, the Indian economy’s fast-growing digitisation can transform other areas like financial services, agriculture, logistics and education, says a new study by McKinsey Global Institute, which found India to be second fastest digitising economy after Indonesia.
The study covered 17 other mature and emerging economies, including the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Brazil. The average Indian social media user spends 17 hours on such platforms each week, more than such users in China and the United States.
India had 560 million connected internet users, and citizens downloaded 12.3 bn mobile applications in 2018, more than any other country except China. The opportunity for leapfrogging is available to the poorest sections of society, as the lowest income states have seen the biggest jump in mobile internet subscribers, the study found.
“This is not just about start-ups, but also incumbents who are able to use technology to drive 30-40 per cent change in business outcomes,” said Alok Kshirsagar and Anu Madgavkar, co-authors of the report. This digital economy is also expected to drive change in the nature of work. About 60-65 mn jobs could be created by the productivity surge by 2025 in sectors like construction, manufacturing, agriculture, trade, hospitality, finance, media and logistics.
But at the same time, this change may also need redeployment or loss of 40-45 mn jobs like data-entry operators, bank tellers, clerks, insurance claims and policy-processing staff, all of which may get automated.
