It seems the ‘Digital India’ move of the government has started showing some magic, with India likely to have 402 million internet users, surpassing the US, by December this year.
According to a report ‘Internet in India 2015’, jointly published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International, the number of Internet users in India is expected to reach 402 million by December 2015, registering a growth of 49% over last year. While Internet in India took more than a decade to move from 10 million to 100 million and three years from 100 to 200 million, it took only a year to move from 300 to 400 million users, the report said.
Currently, India has the third largest internet users’ base in the word but it is estimated that by December, India will overtake the US as the second-largest Internet users’ base in the world. China currently leads with more than 600 million internet users. In October 2015, there were 375 million internet users in India.
According to the report, 71% male and 29% female are Internet users in India. The Internet usage among males has been growing at a rate of 50% while it is growing at 46% for female users.
However, in urban India, the ratio between male to female Internet users is 62:38. Among the rural Internet users, 88% are males. The Internet users among females are growing at 61% and 79% among males.