Eastern region becoming new destination for IoT: Report

The Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to generate revenues to the tune of $750–900 million in the eastern region, according to a report by PwC and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Called “Eastern India : A potential IoT hub”, the report points out that keeping pace with rest of the country, States like West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bihar are fast evolving as lucrative destinations for IT and ITeS.

This presents a huge opportunity for the States to leverage IoT to its fullest potential.

“It is assumed that India will have a share of 5-6 per cent of the global IoT industry. But, considering the current share of the eastern states in the country’s IoT revenue will mean potential revenue in the range of $750-900 million can be tapped from the region,” it says.

The global IoT industry is expected to clock $300-billion revenue, according to an estimate by Gartner. A policy framework supporting IoT growth; information communication technology development that include implementation and integration of the national optical fibre network (NOFN); incubating innovative ideas; co-ordination between academic bodies, industry and the State government; and focus on industry specific solutions (for example identifying industries which have high readiness for adoption of IoT) can help the eastern States leverage the phenomenon.

The report states that the top 10 industries investing in IoT include home and building (smart homes, alarms, security, fire intrusion, etc); security solutions; agriculture, manufacturing, retail (ATM machines, cash replenishment); healthcare (remote patient monitoring and smart body sensors); consumer electronics; transportation; utilities (smart meters, fuel consumption for homes, smart grids) and education. Industrial manufacturing activity and healthcare segments in the east provide an IoT opportunity that has an estimated market size of approximately $112 million each.