Delhi top state and Mumbai top city in Internet usage: IAMAI
Among the states, Delhi has registered the highest Internet penetration. Kerala ranks second in terms of internet penetration.
Significantly, Eastern states together have seen a 24% increase in the Internet population in November 2019 compared to March 2019. Jharkhand and Bihar witnessed 48% and 36% increase in internet population respectively, which is higher compared to any other Indian states. The Eastern states overall historically have comparatively lower levels of internet penetration and it is expected that the newfound momentum will help this region catch-up with the rest of the country.
While Delhi retains top spot in terms of penetration, at a city level, Mumbai has the highest number of internet users at estimated 13 Mn users, with Delhi coming is second with 11.3 Mn users. Bangalore comes a distant third with an estimated 6.6 Mn users, while Kolkata (6.3 Mn) and Chennai (6 Mn) complete the top 5 cities in terms of the number of users. (All numbers denoting active internet users above 12 years of age).
Internet is still predominantly concentrated amongst the more socio-economically well-off section, with 57% of users belong to NCCS AB at all India level, which is further skewed in Urban India where 71% of the users belong to the uppermost NCCS category. However, what is heartening to note is that close to 30Mn new Internet users have come in among the lower category of NCCS C/DE during March 2019 – November 2019 of which 23Mn users are from rural India.
In terms of age-wise demographics, 2/3rd of Internet users in India are in the age group of 12-29 yrs. and this age group corresponds to more than 70% of Internet users in Rural. The proportion of 12-29 years and 30 years+ is approximately 50:50 in Mumbai and Chennai.
IAMAI for the last couple of years has been highlighting the need for the greater push for internet penetration in the rural areas as growth in urban India reached a plateau. The recent numbers are welcome by the association as it helps empower the vision of Digital India.
