NDTV's Vikram Chandra with J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, journalist Swapan Dasgupta, Google India chief Rajan Anandan, political scientist Ashutosh Varshney, adman Suhel Seth, HSBC India chief Naina Lal Kidwai and Indian Express editor Shekhar Gupta
There will be 240 million Indians on the Internet by the 2014 election, and that includes 70 percent of India's voters who can swing an election, search engine Google's India head Rajan Anandan said at NDTV's Solutions summit today.
Speaking at a session on Internet as a way of strengthening democracy, Mr Anandan said a lot of voters are using the Internet to form their opinions on politicians and issues, but that access is limited mostly to cities and urban India.
"Of the four million Indians coming to the Internet every month, 70% are from metros," Mr Anandan revealed.
(Watch Video)By the 2019 polls, however, that could change and Internet could be a major factor in Indian politics as 600 million Indians are expected to be connected by then, he added.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abudllah said Internet can make a huge difference to the quality of governance.
"We are not reaching the urban poor through the internet. Only 25 million in rural India are connected, and electorally, the weight of rural India is 75% or higher - that part of India has not been penetrated by the internet," said political scientist Ashutosh Varshney.
Panelists like Mr Anandan expressed concern that India had the least number of women Net users; only about 60 million of India's current 200 million users are women, he said.
"The government should help girls and women become more internet savvy," said HSBC India chief Naina Lal Kidwai.