India now has 958 million Active Internet Users (AIU), marking an approximately 8% year on year growth, reinforcing its position as one of the world’s largest and fastest evolving digital markets, according to a report jointly prepared by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar.

The ‘Internet in India Report 2025,’ which highlights these trends, was launched at the India Digital Summit on 4 February.

Driven by rapid penetration in rural India and the rising popularity of short-video consumption, and AI adoption, India’s internet user base has crossed the 950 million-mark in 2025, the report highlighted.

This growth continues to be led decisively by rural India, which is now home to approximately 548 million active internet users. Rural regions now account for over 57% of India’s active internet users and are growing at nearly four times the pace of urban India, signalling a structural shift in where and how digital adoption is expanding. 

The report highlights below key trends:

1.    Artificial Intelligence has reached mass adoption in India. 44% users have engaged with AI enabled features such as voice search, image based search, chatbots and AI filters. Usage is highest among younger audiences, with 57% of users aged 15 - 24 years and 52% of those aged 25 - 44 years reporting AI usage in the past year. 
          
2.    Short-video consumption has emerged as a key growth driver within this expanding user base. In 2025, 588 million (61%) internet users consumed short-video content, with rural users marginally outnumbering urban users. Adoption is strongest among younger audiences, cementing their role as a key driver of digital engagement.

3.    Quick commerce is leading a fundamental shift in how Indians shop online, with social commerce close behind, as the e-commerce ecosystem expands beyond traditional online marketplaces. Among urban users, 230 million people (56%) of the urban active internet base, shopped online in the past year, with quick commerce and social commerce gaining prominence alongside established marketplaces.

4.    Multi Device usership is on the rise. India now has 193 million multi device internet users, representing 20% of all active internet users, up from 165 million in 2024. Urban adoption stands at 31%, while rural India is catching up at 12%. Also, shared device usage continues to be a key enabler of digital access. 18% of internet users go online through someone else’s mobile device, and nearly 80% of these users are based in rural areas.

The report reveals that despite strong momentum, 38% of India’s population, about 579 million people, remains non-active internet users. However, this proportion has been steadily declining year after year, signalling substantial headroom for the continued expansion of India’s digital economy.

The Internet in India report is based on the ICUBE study, the 2025 edition of which is based on a sample covering 87,000+ consumers across more than 400 towns and over 1,000 villages in the country.