5G to boost the economy to ₹36.4 tr

5G will be a key enabler of enterprise digital transformation processes across manufacturing, energy and utilities, banking, transportation, healthcare, sports and retail. The Fifth-generation technology (5G) could benefit the Indian economy by ₹36.4 trillion ($455 billion) between 2023 and 2040, or more than 0.6% of the GDP forecast for 2040, as per the analysis from GSMA Intelligence, reflecting the large number of 5G use cases that could be implemented in the main sectors of India’s economy.

5G benefits are expected to be realised in new applications in the manufacturing sector (representing 20% of the total benefit) as well as the retail, ICT and agricultural sectors. The services sector, particularly healthcare and education, is also expected to benefit from 5G, driven by smart city and smart government applications. Over a 15-year period from 2020 – 2034, US $565 billion in global GDP can come from mmWave 5G services,” the report says.

“Given the importance of 5G to India’s digital future, it has become critical for the government and the mobile industry to collectively evolve and ensure the sustainable growth of the mobile industry,” it said.

The Indian economy will rely heavily on the investments to be made by telecom service providers that will begin offering 5G services in key cities within this year and scale them up to cover the entire country in the coming years.

Going forward, the number of 5G smartphones in the market continues to rise; there were around 50 million 5G smartphones in June 2022, with another 20–30 million expected by the end of the year, it said.

5G is going to bring new capabilities that create opportunities for people, businesses and society

Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, President & CEO, VARINDIA