Apps will drive business of the future. Here’s how

A recent study by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (Icrier) and the Broadband India Forum indicates that internet apps have added Rs 1.4 lakh crore to India’s GDP during 205-16. By 2020, this market is expected to grow to Rs 18 lakh. “Data is going to drive the industry more than voice, the ministry has also initiated a move to relook at the current Telecom Policy through public consultation,” said Manoj Sinha, Union minister of communications, while releasing the report yesterday.


"The internet economy could contribute up to $537.4 billion to India's GDP in 2020, of which a minimum of $270.9 billion could be attributed to apps," says the study, using various economic analyses and logical regression models to isolate and calculate the impact of apps on the Indian economy, according to a TOI report.

"Since not all Internet usage is app based, we moderate the estimate using assumptions on contribution of apps to the Internet economy in India," says the study. Apps or applications, are mostly used on smartphones, to perform specialized tasks. The study measures internet usage on the basis of the "virtual networking index" forecasts of IT company Cisco.

"From a CISCO estimate, India's Internet traffic from non-PC devices was 28% of total Internet traffic in 2015. According to experts, 70% of mobile or non-PC traffic could be attributable to apps implying that apps contributed a minimum of $20.4 billion to India's economy in the year 2015-16," says the study , adding that this estimate is based only on internet-based apps. Including offline apps here can swing the figure higher.