Farming a Big Part of India’s Quiet Digital Revolution

By INSEAD Knowledge

It may just be the most sweeping revolution you’ve never heard of, writes Vinika D. Rao at INSEAD Knowledge. As the world is transfixed by China’s digital advancements, its internet juggernauts and frenetic innovation in the last decade, India is undergoing its own upheaval measured in terabytes, largely away from the international media spotlight.

The numbers are staggering even by the sub-continent’s standards. More so the speed. Some 1.2 billion people are now registered on Aadhaar, the national biometric digital identity programme introduced in 2009. More than 80% of Indian adults now have at least one digital financial account, thanks largely to the Jan Dhan scheme launched in 2014, just months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was first sworn into office.

Digitization has also boosted farming, which still employs about 50% of Indians and accounts for some 18% of Indian GDP. The government’s electronic National Agriculture Market has helped farmers increase revenue by up to 15 percent, consulting firm McKinsey said in a recent report. Farmers can now obtain cheaper credit by way of online banking and crop insurance through more accessible digital land records. These and other digital innovations in Indian agriculture can add up to US$65 billion of economic value by 2025.

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