Internet subscribers in India touch 238.71 million in 2013: Government

NEW DELHI: India's Internet population rose to 238.71 million last year helped by growing number of users especially in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, Parliament was informed today.

In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Communication and IT Milind Deora said: "As per the Census of India 2011, 9.4 per cent of households of India have access to computers and 3.1 per cent of households have Internet."

Quoting Trai data, the Minister added that India's total Internet subscribers stood at 238.71 million as of December 31, 2013.

Maharashtra has the largest Internet subscribers at 38.78 million followed by Uttar Pradesh (22.90 million), Tamil Nadu (19.65 million), Gujarat (17.92 million) and Andhra Pradesh (17.07 million), Deora said.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had pegged Internet subscribers in India at 164.81 million as of March 31, 2013, with seven out of eight accessing the Internet from their mobile phones.

In a separate query, Deora said according to the IT hardware industry body MAIT, the IT hardware market in India is likely to reach Rs 3 lakh crore in 2013-14 fiscal.

In the current fiscal 6.99 million units of desktops are expected to be sold, 5.12 million units of note book.note book PCs, 21.46 million units of smartphones, 3.84 million units of tablet PCs and 2.84 million units of printers, he added.

On the question on China's growing influence in Indian Ocean region in IT and telecom services, Deora said: "As per the Ministry of External Affairs, as such there is no influence of China in Indian Ocean region in IT and Telecom services."

However, based on commercial viability, Indian companies are investing in different countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Seychelles, etc, the Minister added.