Mumbai has the most number of Internet users in India: IAMAI data

Data from the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has shown that Mumbai has the highest number of Internet users in India. Mumbai has close to over 12 million Internet users. Number two on the list is national capital Delhi with 8.1 million users, followed by Hyderabad with 4.7 million users. Chennai and Kolkata are on the number four and five spots with 4.5 and 4.4 million users respectively.

In terms of growth Mumbai has seen a 45 percent year-on-year growth as the city had. In 2012, Mumbai had 8.3 million Internet users, while Delhi had 6 million users. There were 3.6 million Internet users in Hyderabad in 2012, while Chennai had 3.4 million Internet users and Kolkata had 3 million Internet users.

Where Mumbai’s growth rate is concerned, the key drivers behind this are college students, the impact of mobile usage and the smartphone boom in India.

According to Nilotpal Chakravarti, the associate Vice-President at IAMAI, the reasons for Mumbai’s growing Internet population are many. He says, “The primary reason for the growth is the increasing use of Internet by college going students. There are various factors which have been instrumental in bringing about this change with the major ones being the increase in mass media exposure and also the rising number of social networking apps targeting the youth.”

But Internet isn’t just for the young college student. Chakravarti also adds, “However, the most phenomenal growth is seen in the Working Women segment.” Previously a comScore report had noted that while women comprise of only 39 percent of India’s online population, women in the age group of 35-44 were the heaviest Internet users across the various age/gender groups surveyed by comScore.

In terms of year-on-year growth, Kolkata leads with a 47 percent growth as far as Internet users are concerned. Bangalore saw a growth 43 percent and is third on the list. Pune with a growth rate of 37 percent is fourth while Delhi with a growth of 35 percent is fifth. Ahmedabad with 26 percent year-on-year growth rate has the lowest growth rate among the top eight cities.

The report also says that the top four metros in India have 37 percent penetration where active Internet users go. Among the other four metros, Hyderabad leads with a penetration of 37 percent active Internet users. In the small metros, Coimbatore with a 40 percent penetration is on top.

The full IAMAI report will be out next week and should give an interesting glimpse of digital trends in India’s urban centres.