INDIA'S DIGITAL ECONOMY: GROWTH, INCLUSION AND THE POLICY CHALLENGE OF SHARED PROSPERITY

Article Information

Abstract

India's digital transformation has moved beyond information-technology exports to become an economy-wide system of identity, payments, platforms, data and digitally enabled production. This paper evaluates the scale, channels and distributional consequences of that transition using descriptive analysis of secondary data from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Reserve Bank of India, National Payments Corporation of India, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, NITI Aayog and other official sources. The evidence indicates that the digital economy contributed 11.74 per cent of national income in 2022–23, supported 14.67 million workers and displayed productivity nearly five times that of the rest of the economy. Its expansion is being accelerated by digital public infrastructure, low-cost mobile connectivity, UPI, platform intermediation and the diffusion of digital tools into finance, retail, education and public services. Yet aggregate gains coexist with rural–urban, gender, skill and enterprise-size divides, while platform concentration, cybersecurity risks, data asymmetry and insecure gig work may weaken inclusive outcomes. The paper argues that India should assess digitalisation not only by transaction volume or subscriber growth, but also by productivity spillovers, quality employment, contestable markets and meaningful access. Apolicy framework centred on universal connectivity, digital capabilities, interoperable infrastructure, data protection, competition and portable social security can convert digital scale into broad-based development.

Keywords

DOI Active Record

This scholarly article has been successfully registered and assigned a persistent DOI through DOIGLOBAL.

Research Tools

Share This Research

Recommended Citation