Meity seeks estimation of size of India’s digital economy

The government currently doesn’t have exact data on the size of India’s digital economy. “Currently, disaggregated data in terms of digital and non-digital economy is not available with MoSPI,” Chandrasekhar said, referring to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which is the nodal ministry for estimating the country’s Gross Domestic Product and industry-wise contributions toward its Gross Value Addition.

ET had reported in its edition dated July 7 that the central government is looking at ways to estimate the size of the digital economy by identifying key performance indicators as well as gaps and the possible solutions to grow it further. The government has set a goal of reaching $1 trillion digital economy in the next few years.

The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has floated a request for proposal seeking bids from agencies which can work on providing an estimation of the size of the digital economy by reviewing the existing literature and methodologies on the measurement of the size of digital economy across the globe and then suggest an appropriate framework for India.

India has emerged as a pre-eminent nation in the world in using digital technology to transform the lives of citizens, the minister said in his written reply. The government’s flagship Digital India programme, which focuses on “digital access, digital inclusion, digital empowerment and bridging the digital divide” envisions digital infrastructure as core utility for citizens, delivery of governance and services on demand, and the digital empowerment of citizens, he added.

“The overall goal is to ensure that digital technologies improve the life of every citizen, expand India’s digital economy, and create investment and employment opportunities and digital technological capabilities in India,” the minister said.

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The rapid pace of digitalisation and technology has enabled “transformative initiatives”, Chandrasekhar said, citing DigiLocker, Unified Mobile Application for New-Age Governance (UMANG), Common Service Centres, MyGov, Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) scheme, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) App.