The Indian youth's growing interest in mobile technology is key in the country's expanding online marketplace. (Photo : Getty Images)
According to economists Pranjul Bhandari and Prithviraj Srinivas at HSBC, "E-commerce could fill half of that gap if India were able to replicate the explosion in Chinese online shopping."
By 2025, India has to provide for 80 million jobs. This anticipation is based on the bulging youth population. HSBC experts believe that even if the Indian government boosts manufacturing, there will be 20 million left without jobs.
In a country where agricultural productivity is low, HSBC believes that businesses in small villages can produce 12 million jobs
India is now at a place where China was in seven years ago. India's economy is cash-based and there is only a small number of people engaged in online business.
However, with the youth's growing interest in mobile technology and over 200 million new bank accounts formed in two years, the outlook is promising for India.
There is a potential of 5 million small enterprises which can do business online by 2025. HSBC thinks that the country can take the same path like Alibaba's Taobao.
More Indian consumers are using mobile technology. Between 2015 and 2016, almost 400 million transactions were made.
HSBC added, "We find that e-commerce jobs are more productive than the kind India is currently creating. They could also be an easy fit, matching India's skills and entrepreneurial profile."
Based on the figures provided by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), the country's e-commerce will grow to $120 billion.
The potential for e-commerce is so huge in India that Amazon put in an additional investment of $3 billion, according to ASSOCHAM.
The Indian government is supportive of the growing online industry. Recently, new rules on transparency and posting of Commerce Identity Numbers for websites were imposed.
