37 mn Indians use Internet

According to the findings, youth are the main drivers of Internet usage in India.

The number of Internet users in India has reached 37 million in the month of September, up from 33 million in March.

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During the same period, the number of "active users" has risen from 21.1 million in March to 25 million in September.

"Active User" is an internationally accepted and widely used category to define users who have used the Internet at least once in the last 30 days.

According to a joint research by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and IMRB International, the numbers are result of the largest "offline" survey so far carried out in India to estimate the "ever user" and "active user" categories.

The primary survey for the study was conducted in early 2006 amongst 16,500 households covering 65,000 individuals across 26 major metros and small towns in India, with additional coverage of 10,000 business and 250 cyber cafe owners. The survey did not include rural areas.

According to the findings, youth are the main drivers of Internet usage in India. College students and those below the age of 35 are the biggest segment on the Internet.

Both these segments have the highest proportion of conversion of "Ever" users to "Active" users of Internet.

Besides the youth, the Internet hungry small towns are further fuelling the growth. As per the survey, smaller metros and towns are increasingly embracing the Internet evolution and are pushing growth from below.

Smaller cities and towns have shown a whopping 142 per cent YoY growth and now account for 25 per cent of all internet users.