What is the Indian Internet Economy Worth?

Rajan Anandan, VP - Sales and Operations & Managing Director, Google India, said "India is seeing one of the fastest rates of internet adoption across the globe. It is up to all of us- users, businesses and the government to leverage the potential of the internet to deliver value and wealth. We see emerging opportunities for innovation in areas like mobile, e-commerce and cloud and are committed to growing the market by offering more locally relevant services."

It was noted that in India technology products are popular. While in America, in the retail sphere alone, e-commerce accounted for 5 percent of U.S. sales in 2010. In the U.S., online retail sales totaled $252 billion in 2010, and ROPO added another $482 billion.

The report also highlights the extent to which the Internet is driving growth in businesses across the G-20. Drawn from the most comprehensive survey of its kind of SMEs around the world, the BCG report finds that “High web” companies in India – ones that use the Internet for marketing, sales and interactions with customers and suppliers – grew their revenues 19 percent over the past three years, compared to only 13 percent for those who made low or no use of the Internet.

When asked how much a person would have to be paid to live without Internet access, Indian respondents said an average of 21,436 per year, or 2.8 times what they pay for access and services. When asked whether they would forgo showering for a year in order to keep Internet access, 36 percent of Indian online consumers said they would; 64 percent said they would forgo chocolate; 63 percent coffee; and 70 percent would give up alcohol.