Whether it is for news, matrimonial services or online banking, almost 45 million Internet users have used the net in their local language as of December, according to the ‘Vernacular Report’ by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB.

The report said there were 122 million active Internet users in India as of last month.

Among the many Internet services used by users of vernacular content, e-mail is the most popular application used (94 per cent), it said.

According to the 2001 census of the Government, there are 769 million people who speak the top 10 local languages in India (Hindi, Bangla, Telegu, Tamil, Urdu, Oriya and Punjabi). This shows there is huge potential and headroom for growth of local language content, the report said, adding that going regional can help companies revolutionise the Internet market in the country.

The report said 64 per cent of the rural Internet users have used it in the local language compared to only 25 per cent of urban Internet users, adding that a higher proportion of the rural population is aware of vernacular language content than urban users.

This is primarily due to the availability of various Internet services such as Government services and land record services in local languages. However, despite the immense growth of Internet usage, the penetration still remains low because of three major factors — lack of infrastructure (no Internet connection, computer), beliefs (no need for Internet) and lack of knowledge (not aware of Internet), the IAMAI report added.

ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in

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