India's internet start-ups will have a combined valuation of $180bn by 2025: report

INDIA's internet start-ups will have a combined valuation of $180 billion by 2025, a report has said.

These firms which operate business ranging from food delivery, e-commerce to online insurance are now on the cusp of listing, it said.

"The growing scale and maturity of India's internet economy is starting to create more value and investment opportunities. More than $60bn has been invested in India's internet start-ups in the past five years, with around $12bn in 2020 alone," said HSBC Global Research in a report of India's internet.

India has 42 Unicorns and over 45 soonicorns-startups that have the potential to enter the unicorn club- HSBC said.

India's e-commerce will grow from $31bn in 2019 to $67bn by 2025, with a growth rate of 39 per cent.

According to the report, Amazon and Flipkart control over 80 per cent of the industry now.

"Reliance Jio is set to emerge as a significant competitive threat, along with multiple vertical e-commerce players and hundreds of brands that are now delivering direct to consumers," it said.

"We see e-commerce logistics companies such as Delhivery as a lucrative opportunity."

In India, 48 per cent of retail spending is on grocery, compared to 15 per cent in China and 10 per cent in the US. Ed-tech is the second-largest opportunity with a market size of $48bn by 2025.

The report said: "We expect 6 million online food orders a day by 2025. This is well behind China where 40 million orders are delivered every day."

The online insurance market remains lucrative, with PolicyBazaar likely to maintain its lead for the foreseeable future. In India, travel is the most penetrated market and hotels are an untapped opportunity. However, the ride sharing has fallen 40 per cent from pre-pandemic levels.

The report said that food delivery volumes are 1/20th of China's in India, leaving massive scope for growth, but companies will still need to invest in growing the food ordering culture.

"For the gig economy, the regulatory regime has yet to evolve. We see particular risks for ride-sharing, ed-tech and gaming industries. Recent regulations for ride-sharing reflect these risks," the report pointed out.