IT Ministry to discuss ways to make India a $1 trillion digital economy with industry leaders

The IT Ministry will discuss with industry leaders on June 16 ways to expedite formulation of a roadmap to make India a $1 trillion digital economy as soon as possible besides planning the next phase of growth. The ministry has received confirmation from about 20 leaders including Infosys co-founder S Gopalakrishnan, Wipro Chief Strategy Officer Rishad Premji, Nasscom President R Chandrasekhar, NIIT Group chairman Rajendra Powar, Flipkart founder Sachin Bansal, Lava CMD Hari Om Rai, Google India VP Rajan Anandan and Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani. “We are looking for ideas from thought leaders to make India an $1 trillion digital economy as soon as we can by empowering people at the bottom of the pyramid. $1 trillion is not the limit but a milestone,” Ministry of Electronics and IT Additional Secretary Ajay Kumar told reporters here. He said that at present India is around $450 billion digital economy and at existing growth rate it is expected to be $1 trillion in next 7 years.  As of now, the Indian electronics market is estimated to be around $100 billion, IT sector $150 billion, telecom $150 billion, e-commerce $30-40 billion and rest is estimated to be size of shared economy like taxi hailing services, startups etc. “We have called representatives from all segments of the digital economy. Based on suggestion and outcome, we are open to create a working group that will come up with policy prescription for things that are relevant for Indian environment. There will be a special focus on the development of economically weaker section,” Kumar said. The IT ministry will look to bring in improvement in areas like use of technology is agriculture, education, healthcare etc. The meeting will be chaired by Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, he said.