November 25, 2022
By Anjali Kochhar
A new report by management consulting firm Deloitte has predicted that the metaverse industry in India could have an economic impact worth between $79 billion and $148 billion by 2035.
A report titled “The Metaverse in Asia Strategies for Accelerating Economic Impact” that offered an in-depth look into the potential of virtual worlds for the continent was shared by the company.
This analysis showcases the potential impact of the metaverse in 12 Asian economies — Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mainland China, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The report highlights the strategies that these economies are adopting to reap the rewards of the metaverse. Each economy featured in this report is approaching the metaverse from its own unique direction, which makes the region an interesting one to watch.
The company noted that the combination of India’s young and tech-savvy population puts it in a pole position to harness the potential of the metaverse. Two other factors Deloitte says will be instrumental in the growth of the metaverse in India are positive regulation from the government and a high level of social acceptance.
Already, the country is showing record-high adoption levels, with a study indicating that 80% of respondents have had previous experience with the metaverse, while over half of those surveyed hinted that they were excited about the possibilities of exploring virtual worlds.
“It is demographically well-positioned to contribute digital labor to the metaverse, especially since it is already a go-to destination for IT offshoring globally and is evolving rapidly into a product development hub,” said Deloitte.
The report further noted that India is among the pacesetters in the industry. It highlights the fact that India was one of the first jurisdictions to include the metaverse in its policy considerations on cyberbullying and sexual abuse.
Dileep Seinberg, founder and CEO of MuffinPay, believes that the metaverse is the future. Not only the global companies, even Indian IT giants, auto majors and telecom bigshots are positive on the metaverse as the future theme to play on, he says.
“Undoubtedly, it is the next evolution in the social connection and successor of the internet. One can see the metaverse as the extension of physical reality, thanks to its robust potential. If movies, including Bollywood and regional media, along with sports were not enough to launch a metaverse, the new sensation has added weddings and social events to its arsenal as well,” Seinberg told NFTMetta.
He believes that the metaverse will allow us to relive, re-think and re-imagine the various experiences and movements with no limitations.
“India is a young country with a high appetite for technology and consumption with limited time. Here’s where the metaverse will come into the picture. It will turn the unimagined things into reality, only with the progression of the time. However, there are no second thoughts about the immense potential of the metaverse in the years to come,” he added.
With India inching forward toward unveiling the Digital India Act, it is expected that a proper framework will be established to prevent the crimes of inciting violence and spreading misinformation on the metaverse.
“With more regulatory certainty and a clear legal framework for Virtual Digital Assets, India’s mature digital payments systems can be leveraged to orchestrate the economic infrastructure of the metaverse,” read the report.
Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar announced that “there is absolutely nothing in the law that prevents” firms from exploring metaverse or non-fungible tokens.
Industry participants are hopeful that regulatory clarity can be achieved to back the words of the Minister.
On the other hand, Roshan Vadassery, the founder of Permissionless, a decentralized automation organization, says that interoperable 3D environments or Metaverse as we know it is in their very early stages worldwide in terms of scale & adoption.
“We are more strongly positioned in delivering the technical expertise required to build and operate it. But large-scale adoption in India is tough as our country’s average computation capacity is low. A pre-requisite for running the 3D environment. In fact, one of the leading metaverse project Otherdeeds by Yuga Labs have been under scrutiny for a long time about their plans to scale technology according to the numbers they have promised. Also, the DAU of most of the metaverse projects out there is not impressive,” Vadassery told NFTMetta.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over three years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
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