Digital commerce market to reach Rs 2.37 lakh crore: Report
New Delhi, Sep 13 : Digital commerce in India will reach Rs 2.37 lakh crore by December 2018, a report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) said here on Thursday.
By the end of 2017, the market stood at Rs 2.04 lakh crore, the report said, adding that online travel industry covered 54 per cent of the total market value last year.
"Online travel industry continues to grow strongly with 54 per cent share while the share of online non-travel has improved over the previous year to reach 46 per cent," the report added.
In December 2017, the share of e-tail was around 36 per cent of the total digital commerce spends, it said. The e-tail sector grew 23 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
According to the report, online utility payments market registered close to 63 per cent growth between 2016 and 2017.
Further, other online services market that includes online bookings for entertainment, online grocery, and online food delivery, was close to Rs 6,060 crore in December 2017.
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RBI keeps policy rate unchanged amid inflationary pressure
Mumbai (PTI): The Reserve Bank on Wednesday expectedly kept interest rates unchanged amid hopes of a global recovery on the back of ceasefire in the six-week-long US/Israel-Iran conflict.
The policy decision comes as a month and a-half-long West Asia conflict has disrupted energy supplies, shot up crude oil prices and created fiscal and inflationary pressures for import-dependent nations like India.
This is the first monetary policy review after the government announced a fresh inflation target for the RBI last month. The government has asked the RBI to maintain retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side for another five years ending March 2031.
Announcing the first bi-monthly monetary policy for the current fiscal, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has unanimously decided to retain short-term lending rate or repo rate at 5.25 per cent with a neutral stance.
The rate cut pause comes on the back of the consumer price index (CPI) based headline retail inflation that moved closer to the RBI's medium-term target of 4 per cent at 3.21 per cent in February.
Additionally, the rupee has depreciated by over 4 per cent since the war, which has consequences for pushing up import inflation.
However, the rupee has appreciated by 50 paise to 92.56 against US dollar following announcement of the ceasefire by the US and Iran.
Based on the recommendation of the MPC, the RBI reduced the repo rate by 25 bps each in February, April, and December 2025 and 50 basis points in June amidst easing retail inflation.
India's retail inflation dropped to a historic low of 0.25 per cent in October 2025, marking the lowest level since the Consumer Price Index (CPI) series was introduced.
However, the rupee declined to historic low and crossed 95 against a dollar last month making imports costlier, raising fears of rise in inflation. Rupee touched a record low of 95.21 on March 30, 2026.
