India’s digital economy expected to contribute over 20 percent to GDP

EXCERPT : During the two-day G20-Digital Innovation Alliance summit in Bengaluru, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar highlighted trends in India’s digital economy relevant to startups

During the G20 Digital Innovation Alliance Summit held in Bengaluru, India, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar described India as a leading nation in adopting technology and providing solutions to the world. Highlighting India’s growth trend in the sector, he stated, “The digital economy has gone from 4-4.5 per cent in 2014 of the total GDP to 11 per cent of the total GDP today. And we expect the digital economy to contribute over 20 per cent of our GDP by 2026”.

how ‘there is a shift in the centre of gravity of technology from a few countries and companies to open-source systems and younger startups, the Minister further highlighted. Startups are disrupting existing norms and taking advantage of the broader trend of increased and faster digitization.

The Digital Innovation Alliance Summit is taking place over two days alongside the fourth meeting of the Digital Economy Working Group under G20. The summit is being attended by global experts and digital leaders, including representatives from G20 countries. The summit’s primary focus is discussions surrounding Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Security in the Digital Economy, and Digital Skilling. As part of India’s G20 presidency, the G20 Digital Innovation Alliance (G20-DIA) initiative was launched under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Startup Hub, aimed at recognizing and accelerating the growth of startups from all G20 countries and nine other guest countries.