India has emerged as a leading global player in the Web3 market, a new report by Nasscom states. Web3 investments in the country grew 37 times from the start of 2020 to Q1 2022 and $1.1 trillion in Web3 economic value is projected to be added to India’s GDP by 2032.
India emerges as a leading global player in web3 market
NASSCOM on Wednesday published a report titled “The India Web3 Startup Landscape: An Emerging Technology Leadership Frontier”. Established in 1988, NASSCOM is a not-for-profit industry association for the technology sector in India. The organization has more than 3,000 members, representing 90% of the industry’s revenue, its website details.
The report states:
India has emerged as a leading global player in the Web3 market, with a competitive talent pool, high rates of adoption and products built for the world.
The total number of Web3 startups in India was over 450 as of the first half of this year; They have raised over $1.3 billion since 2020. The average deal size in 2021 was around $10 million and there were over 70 active institutional investors in the Indian web3 space in 2021.
“Web3 focus grew rapidly in India in 2015-17 with the launch of Ethereum, in line with global growth, but grew phenomenally in 2020-21 after the national cryptocurrency ban was lifted,” the report further details, elaborating:
Web3 investment grew 37 times from the beginning of 2020 to Q1 2022.
In addition, the report estimates that $1.1 trillion in Web3 economic value will be added to India’s GDP by 2032.
Cryptocurrency has never been banned in India. However, the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), imposed a banking ban on the crypto industry, which was lifted by the Supreme Court in March 2020. In May last year, RBI confirmed that its crypto banking ban is no longer valid. Nevertheless, the central bank continues to have “major concerns” about the cryptocurrency.
“However, Indian Web3 startups see major roadblocks in scaling up due to lack of regulatory clarity and policy direction, risking India’s competitive advantage,” the report describes, concluding:
Web3 will prove to be game-changing for economies that can bring together the right ecosystem partners to take the right steps to facilitate this industry.
Debjani, president of Nasscom, was quoted by local media as saying:
India’s rapid adoption of new-age technologies, its growing start-up ecosystem, and large-scale digitally skilled talent potential is cementing the country’s position in the global Web3 landscape.
