Digital trade is likely to create Rs Rs 3,331 thousand crore ( Rs 3,33,10,00 crore) economic opportunity for India by 2030, according to a digital trade report released by Hinrich Foundation, All India Management Association (AIMA) and AlphaBeta Advisors. The report (The Data Opportunity: The Promise of Digital Trade for India) was released in New Delhi today.  It said, "Digital trade can have a huge positive impact on India’s domestic economy, with some of the biggest beneficiaries coming non-digital sector, in particular, from financial services, agriculture and food, infrastructure and consumer and retail."

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The value-added to India’s domestic sectors through digital trade could grow over 14-fold by 2030, the report predicts. It further says that the value of digital exports, which is India’s 2nd largest export sector, could also grow by a whopping 238 per cent by 2030. To realise this expected growth, a "conducive policy and regulatory environment for digital trade and cross-border data flows is essential for realizing this projected growth", notes the report. 

What's needed?

According to the digital trade report, the following are needed in particular: 

- Enabling open data flows (e.g. creating an internationally interoperable privacy rules system)

- Minimizing border frictions (e.g. imposition of custom duties on digital goods)

- Building flexibility into copyright and intermediary liability regulations will be critical elements for fully achieving the digital opportunity. 

Key highlights of digital trade report:

- Digital trade is already adding significant value to India’s domestic economy and this value-added could sizably increase with the right settings.

- According to the report, digital trade can enable Indian firms to reduce the cost of storing data, improve business practices, generate richer business insights, and enter new markets. Digital trade can also facilitate the more efficient management of global supply chains (e.g. tracking of export containers using Internet of Things technology). 

- Digital exports represent the second-largest export sector of India today with significant potential for growth.

- Enabling cross border data flows and clarifying the framework for processing and storing data will be required to further expand the contribution of digital exports.

Opportunity for India

As per the report, there is an opportunity for India to play a leading role in international policy formulation for digital trade rules. "Policymakers in India and across the Asia Pacific are developing regulations for the digital economy. Given India’s prominent position in the global and regional economy, there is the opportunity for India to play a leading role, not only at home, but also abroad when negotiating bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, in driving the
development of digital trade rules that will enable the country to capture the digital dividend."