Sourced statistics

39.4% Internet Use Sets India’s Small-Business Digital Baseline

India’s digital-transformation baseline is uneven: public data shows large business participation, expanding payment rails and a material security burden. The figures below separate Indian measures from international SME context.

7.92 crore
estimated unincorporated non-agricultural establishments in India in 2025: 493.22
RBI Digital Payments Index in March 2025: 79.6%
of India’s retail-payment volume made through UPI in 2023–24: 29,44,248
cybersecurity incidents recorded by CERT-In in India during 2025

By Rohini Mundra, Founder · Updated 25 Sept 2026

In brief

MoSPI’s 2025 survey shows digital access among India’s unincorporated businesses has expanded, but it is not universal. Payment infrastructure is widespread, while AI, skills and security figures show why a small-business digital transformation needs more than a new tool.

India’s current MSME thresholds

₹2.5 crore / ₹10 crore

From 1 April 2025, a micro enterprise can have investment up to ₹2.5 crore and turnover up to ₹10 crore.

Source: Ministry of MSME, Udyam Registration, 2025#

₹25 crore / ₹100 crore

From 1 April 2025, a small enterprise can have investment up to ₹25 crore and turnover up to ₹100 crore.

Source: Ministry of MSME, Udyam Registration, 2025#

₹125 crore / ₹500 crore

From 1 April 2025, a medium enterprise can have investment up to ₹125 crore and turnover up to ₹500 crore.

Source: Ministry of MSME, Udyam Registration, 2025#

AI and skill signals

₹10,371.92 crore

IndiaAI was approved with a five-year outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore and a public AI-compute target of 10,000 or more GPUs.

Source: Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Electronics & IT, 2024#

42%

In the OECD’s 2025 ten-country SME survey, 42% of respondents identified digital marketing and SEO as a training need.

Source: OECD D4SME Survey, 2025#

39%

In the OECD’s 2025 ten-country SME survey, 39% of respondents said they used AI in core activities or products.

Source: OECD D4SME Survey, 2025#

Security is part of digital adoption

6 hours

CERT-In’s 2022 Directions require covered cyber incidents to be reported within six hours of noticing the incident or being informed about it.

Source: India AI Governance Guidelines, Press Information Bureau, 2025#

In the OECD’s 2025 ten-country SME survey, 9% of respondents reported having no digital-security measures.

Source: OECD D4SME Survey, 2025#

32%

In the OECD’s 2025 ten-country SME survey, 32% of respondents said they had experienced a digital-security breach.

Source: OECD D4SME Survey, 2025#

Citing this page

Free to cite with attribution: “India Small-Business Digital Transformation Data, 2026, Rohini Mundra.” Each statistic above has its own anchor link — the # beside its source. Link the stat you use.

Method and scope

The India business figures come from MoSPI’s ASUSE 2025, a multi-stage stratified survey of unincorporated non-agricultural establishments in manufacturing, trade and other services. It excludes construction. RBI figures measure national payment infrastructure and usage, not MSME-only behaviour. OECD findings are clearly labelled as international context from a 1,009-response survey across ten OECD countries, rather than estimates for India. IndiaAI figures are Cabinet-approved programme inputs and targets, not measures of small-business adoption. CERT-In incident counts are national incidents reported to and tracked by the agency.

Digital access is expanding, not universal

MoSPI’s Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises measures manufacturing, trade and other services, excluding construction. The change in internet use is a useful baseline for a focused transformation plan, rather than proof that every business has adopted connected systems.

Internet use has increased A two-bar chart showing internet use among India’s unincorporated non-agricultural establishments rising from 26.7% to 39.4%.

Use a 90-day small-business digital transformation roadmap to turn one operational constraint into a defined test. A coaching business automation audit can help identify repeated work before adding another system.

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Frequently asked

MoSPI estimated that 39.4% of unincorporated non-agricultural establishments used the internet in its 2025 survey. The measure covers manufacturing, trade and other services, excludes construction, and should not be presented as an estimate for every registered MSME.

The sources here do not establish an official India-wide AI adoption rate for small businesses. IndiaAI’s public funding and compute target describe national infrastructure, while the OECD’s 39% AI-use figure is a non-representative survey across ten other countries.

CERT-In’s national incident total shows the scale of the security environment, not a small-business breach rate. Covered cyber incidents have a six-hour reporting requirement, so businesses should treat access controls, incident ownership and evidence preservation as operational responsibilities.

From 1 April 2025, India classifies a small enterprise using both investment and turnover thresholds. The limits are investment in plant, machinery or equipment of up to ₹25 crore and annual turnover of up to ₹100 crore.

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