Brick-and-mortar sector will go dead by 2023: NITI Aayog CEO

We are a $18-19 billion market in e-commerce and will be a $300 billion market by 2023, says Amitabh Kant

Brick-and-mortar stores in India are likely to phase out by the year 2023, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said here on Saturday.

"India is the only country with a billion mobile phones and biometrics. In the last 45 years we have given licenses to 19 banks but in the last nine months, we have given licence to 23 payment banks. The brick and mortar sector will go dead," he said at the TiE Delhi-NCR and Lufthansa organised Startup Expo.

"We are just close to $18-19 billion market in e-commerce and take it from me we will be a $300 billion market by 2023.

"It will all be mobile, and telephonic transactions by the year 2023 because today we are about 350 million using the internet but 2020-23 there will be about 1 billion people in India using the internet," Kant said, adding internet usage will increase with more people on smartphones.

"A billion Indians with access to the internet, biometrics and using smartphones... we will radically alter the world," he said.