Local language Internet users grow to 127 million in India

New Delhi: The number of local language Internet users in India is growing at 47% year-on-year and has touched 127 million in June 2015, thanks to the increasing use of smartphones in rural areas of the country, says a new report by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and market research firm IMRB International released on Monday.

The report says that India has 353 million Internet users as of June 2015. Out of this, 269 million access Internet at least once a month and the survey has been conducted among them.

India has a large scope for local language Internet as non-English speaking population constitute 88% of the population. At least 50% of the population speaks Hindi, says the report.

Rural population uses Internet mainly for entertainment, followed by communication and social networking. In urban India, the pattern changes to communication first, followed by social networking and entertainment.

With increasing other language Internet users, many online marketplaces have already started displaying product features and other information in local languages such as Hindi and Tamil.

The report also cites the challenges existing in the market. It says that most of the apps currently provide only partial local language content.

The report also calls for intelligent translations instead of just mechanical processes that are in place on many websites. For example, a website selling 16MP camera literally translates MP to “Saansad” in Hindi, which means Member of Parliament.

The report also compared the medium with television which it said had on an average four out of five ads in local languages irrespective of the mode of the channel.

Even the online channels like YouTube and online broadcasting sites are producing and disseminating the ads in local languages.

The overall digital advertising spends in India will reach Rs.3,575 crore by 2015 end. The proportion of digital ads spends in the local language will be 5% of the entire market Rs.179 crore, the report said.

With the increasing availability of digital content in the local language, this share is expected to reach close to 30% of overall digital advertising spends by the year 2020, the report said.

Over 65,000 individuals among 19,000 households spread across 35 cities were surveyed for the report. The survey also interviewed various stakeholders of local language content on Internet in India, including developers and publishers.

The current edition showcases the information captured from various data sources in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.