Internet could contribute US$100B to India's GDP by 2015

The Internet industry's contribution to India's gross domestic product (GDP) could jump from the current 1.6 percent to between 2.8 percent and 3.3 percent by 2015.

Citing a new McKinsey & Company report, the Economic Times said Wednesday the increase from US$30 billion now to nearly US$100 billion in 2015 is provided India reaches its potential in growing the number of Web users and the level of Internet consumption and investment during that period.

At present, India is the world's third largest Internet market, with a Web user base of 120 million--a fraction of its population of 1.2 billion people. The number is set to grow up to 370 million by 2015, the report said.

It noted that given the falling costs of Internet access and mobile devices, India was "on the verge of an Internet boom". The country will likely have the second largest Internet user base in the world, and largest in terms of incremental growth.