'Twelve Technologies Can Add Up to $1 Trillion Value to India by 2025'

Twelve empowering technologies, from mobile Internet to cloud computing to advanced genomics, have the potential to add $550 billion (approximately Rs. 35 lakh crores) to $1 trillion (approximately Rs. 64 lakh crores) a year of economic value in India by 2025, McKinsey Global Institute said on Tuesday.

MGI, in its report, assessed more than 100 technologies that are advancing rapidly around the world and identified 12 that are likely to have the most impact on addressing India's challenges.

The report grouped the 12 technologies into three areas - ones that digitise life and work, smart physical systems and those for rethinking energy. Used together, these technologies could account for 20-30 percent of India's GDP growth between 2012 and 2025 and help millions achieve a better quality of life, the report said.

"The spread of digital technologies, as well as advances in energy and genomics, can be one of the most dominant drivers of productivity in India, redefine how basic services are delivered, and contribute to higher living standards for millions of Indians by raising education levels and improving healthcare outcomes," McKinsey & Company India Managing Director Noshir Kaka said. Often, these technologies will be used in combination, generating a greater impact than any one of them when used alone, he added.

Citing an example, he said Internet of Things sensors in medical devices can be combined with mobile Internet and intelligent systems hosted on cloud to monitor patients with chronic disease remotely and to alert medical workers automatically when the system detects a potentially dangerous situation.

The total impact of the sized applications could amount to $240-500 billion a year by 2025. Given the contributions of these sectors to India's GDP, MGI estimates that across the entire economy, these 12 technologies could have a combined economic impact of  $550 billion (approximately Rs. 35 lakh crores) to $1 trillion (approximately Rs. 64 lakh crores) by 2025, the report said.

"The combined economic impact of the 12 technologies in 2025 could be up to six times the current economic value of the Indian IT industry. They can contribute as high a share of the national economy as the entire manufacturing sector does today," MGI senior fellow Anu Madgavkar said.