India’s IoT market to reach $15 bn by 2020: Nasscom report

The Indian Internet of Things (IoT) market is expected to grow to $15 billion, from $5.6 billion this year, driven by increasing use across sectors, including manufacturing, automotive, transportation and logistics, says a new report by Nasscom and Deloitte.

The report estimates the number of connected devices in the country to grow to 2.7 billion units by 2020 from the current 200 million units. This is in tandem with the global IoT market, which is expected to grow to over $3 trillion by same period, the report noted.

Driven by both consumer and industrial applications, primarily in the manufacturing, automotive and transportation and logistics, IoT revenues a in India are expected to reach $15 billion by 2020 in India, R Chandrasekhar, president of apex IT body Nasscom, said on the sidelines of the eighth edition of `Nasscomm Design and Engineering Summit'.

At present the IoT ecosystem in India comprises around 120 organisations across the value chain, he noted.

Internet of Things or IoT refers to a network of inter-connected devices that can be accessed through the internet.

For instance, with IoT, street lights will automatically go off when they sense no traffic on the roads and consequently, save power. Another application could be a smart band that will automatically alert a physician when vital body parametres go to abnormal levels.

Kevin Ashton, Inventor of the Internet of Things and author, said IoT has started being incorporated into both consumer and industrial applications being utilised in critical verticals like healthcare, automotive and manufacturing.

"The ecosystem is rapidly expanding, owing to demand for both industrial and consumer IoT applications and is set to be a critical part of the next level of growth for the IT industry," he said.

The report titled 'IoT Revolution in the Making' laid emphasis on the growth of IoT as not just creating consumer solutions but also adding value in industrial applications. It stated that the IoT segment is expected to grow across industries, with utilities, manufacturing, automotive and transportation and logistics providing greater opportunities for development, compared to other sectors.

"IoT is set to become a major differentiator in driving the next generation of services and products. In India, while the industry is at a nascent stage industrial applications of IoT primarily in manufacturing, automotive and transportation and logistics are expected to drive IoT revenues by 2020," Chandrasekhar said.

(Also see:  China, India leading IoT revolution)