E-commerce market is likely to grow ten times in the next five years to reach 100 billion US dollar on the back of increasing penetration of Internet, smartphones and spread of digital network in rural areas, a study by industry body FICCI and consultancy firm KPMG said.

The report titled ‘Direct selling; mapping the industry across Indian states’, said India’s e-commerce sector, which is around 10 billion US dollar (Rs 65,000 crore) at present, can even touch 250 billion US dollar in next ten years as digital network would spread in the rural areas.

“By 2020, e-commerce would be 100 billion US dollar industry… Presently China has a 450 billion US dollar e-commerce (market) and India is just 10 billion US dollar. India in next 10 years, in my mind, would be close to 250 billion US dollar of e-commerce,” DIPP secretary Amitabh Kant said while releasing the report. By 2017, India will have 350 million smartphones and it will create demand, the report said.

“We would see several trends growing, while e-commerce has mushroomed in India recently… by 2017, we would have 500 million Indians connected to Internet and it would create huge consumer opportunity,” Kant said.

India will also witness rapid urbanisation and create an economy driven by the middle class. According to the report, direct selling in India has grown at a CAGR of 16 per cent over the past five years and is presently at Rs 75 billion.