India's Internet Users to Exceed 900 Million This Year, AI Revolutionizes Engagement

Synopsis

A report indicates that India's internet user base will exceed 900 million by 2025, largely due to the rise of Indic languages. The digital gender gap is narrowing, with women accounting for 47% of users. AI technology is transforming user engagement, and rural areas show significant growth in internet usage.

Key Takeaways

India's internet users expected to exceed 900 million by 2025.
Rural areas contribute significantly to internet growth.
High demand for content in Indic languages.
AI is changing how users interact with digital content.
Women internet users account for 47% of the total.

New Delhi, Jan 16 (NationPress) Fueled by the increasing utilization of Indic languages in digital content, India's internet user population is poised to exceed 900 million by 2025, according to a report released on Thursday.

The active internet user count reached 886 million in 2024, reflecting a robust 8 percent annual growth. Rural areas are leading this expansion with 488 million users, accounting for 55 percent of the total internet demographic, as reported by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar.

Almost all internet users (98 percent) are engaging with content in Indic languages, with Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam being the most favored due to their widespread availability.

More than half (57 percent) of urban internet users show a preference for consuming content in regional languages, highlighting the increasing demand for localized content across various platforms, according to the report.

AI has proven to be a pivotal game changer over the last year, with 90 percent of internet users having interacted with applications featuring integrated AI technologies.

“The widespread acceptance and excitement around AI should motivate digital enterprises to roll out more advanced AI functionalities in India,” stated Biswapriya Bhattacharya, Director of B2B and Technology at Kantar Insights–South Asia.

The digital gender gap in India is gradually closing, with 47 percent of all internet users being women — the highest figure to date.

Women internet users make up a significant share of shared device users in rural regions at 58 percent. This signifies considerable progress in promoting more inclusive and equitable digital access over the years, as noted in the report.

Rural India leads online engagement in key activities such as OTT video and music streaming, online communication, and social media usage, outperforming urban users in these sectors.

Urban India, on the other hand, excels in adopting non-traditional devices like smart TVs and smart speakers, which have surged by 54 percent from 2023 to 2024.

At the same time, mobile devices remain the principal means of accessing the internet for both urban and rural demographics, according to the report.