Reliance Jio pushed internet usage in India, coronavirus to accelerate it further: Morgan Stanley

While Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio brought telecom services revolution in India, the coronavirus pandemic will give a further push to digital adoption in the country as more and more people take to e-commerce to buy products.

While Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio brought telecom services revolution in India, the coronavirus pandemic will give a further push to digital adoption in the country as more and more people take to e-commerce to buy products, Morgan Stanley said. People moving to online shopping will also lead small businesses to digitise as well, it added. The year 2020 will see a rise in online penetration in grocery, and will also lead to creation of super apps, Morgan Stanley said in a 53-page report on ‘India’s Digital Economy in a Post-COVID-19 World’, PTI reported. Reliance has also launched its online grocery platform JioMart which is expected to become a super app soon by integrating all the Reliance Retail portfolio in it.

While India has a burgeoning internet user base, it is much lower as compared to China and the US where over 70% of the population uses digital services. India’s digital user base is expected to expand significantly to 914 million by 2027 as compared to the current 670 million internet users. Of this, about 590 million will shop online as compared to 190 million in 2020. The users are also expected to spend double the current amount of their average costs and the same will jump to $318, the bank said.

Mukesh Ambani’s RIL launched its telecom arm Reliance Jio in 2016 and the company is largely believed to have driven 4G revolution in the country with dirt cheap data prices as compared to other carriers. “The launch of Reliance Jio’s 4G telecom services in September 2016 helped spur the digital economy in India as it propelled internet usage in the country, with fast, reliable, and cheap 4G services leading to significant growth in data usage (especially on music and video content),” Morgan Stanley said. Meanwhile, as Reliance Jio has entered into a deal with Facebook recently, the same will also accelerate e-commerce and kirana stores business in the country.

The coronavirus pandemic will be a further catalyst to digital transformation in India as there will be an increased shift towards online transactions in the country. The same will also help startups and SMBs to grow.