Rising digitalisation offers $39bn export opportunity for Indian biz by 2022: Report

Rising digital influence on consumers and growing cross-border e-commerce are expected to unlock USD 39 billion worth of export opportunities for Indian businesses by 2022 across various verticals, a report by Google-KPMG today said.

The report outlined that travel, media and entertainment, software as a service (SaaS), consumer brands and real estate are the key verticals with high potential international opportunities as digital is fast becoming the preferred channel to reach global audience.

It pointed out that Asia-Pacific is one of the most attractive regions for expansion by Indian players - with China, Malaysia and Indonesia as key target countries.

Digitally mature geographies such as the US and UK are other lucrative geographies which can be tapped through digital channels, it added.

"Rising global connectivity is opening up new opportunities for businesses to expand internationally. This growth is led by emerging economies, driven by adoption of mobile phones; this combination is driving a very rapidly growing cross border mobile e-commerce," Google India Director Marketing Solutions Shalini Girish said.

Sreedhar Prasad, Partner and Head, Consumer Markets and Internet Business Advisory at KPMG India, said geographically, share of developing economies in global trade is on the rise.

"As per the report, developing economies now account for about 41 per cent of global merchandise trade and about 36 per cent of global trade of commercial services. This presents a compelling case for Indian Businesses to Look East' for growth," he said.

Prasad added that regions within Asia Pacific like China, Malaysia and Indonesia constitute attractive markets for expansion and with digitalisation Indian companies can look to make significant headway in key sectors.

According to the report, the travel vertical is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 18 per cent to USD 3.1 billion by 2022 from USD 1.37 billion in 2017, driven by online sales opportunity for Indian travel service providers to international travellers to India.

International traveller inflow to India is expected to grow to 12.8 million by 2022 and accommodation spends by international tourists in the country are expected to grow at approximately 14 per cent, it added.

The media and entertainment industry, on the other hand, is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 37 per cent to USD 3.46 billion by 2022 from USD 0.71 billion in 2017.

Similarly, real estate vertical is expected to grow from USD 11.5 billion in 2017 to USD 25.7 billion in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 17 per cent.

Indian real estate developers could tap into the NRI and HNI customer base by leveraging technology and digital platforms, the report said.