What Promise does IoT Market hold for India?

For many years, we have been seeing a growth in IoT products. There was a time when we could only imagine about smart homes and cars, but now it's becoming a reality and with the help of innovative technology, it's going to change our daily life completely.

You can start imagining driverless cars, a home where you can sit and leave the rest on a smart machine, or many other activities being performed using a mobile device. Yes! IoT can help you to connect any device with your mobile and control that from any distance. India is one of the potential markets for IoT products. In past few years it has witnessed a tremendous growth in the sector but what are the obstacles and trends in this field? Take a look at our interaction with Dr. Rishi Bhatnagar, President, Aeris Communications (India).

Key IoT trends in India

Awareness about the business potential of IoT is definitely growing. Many projects are moving from the drawing board and labs to the field. These are exciting times for us as we are seeing IoT expand into newer segments and touch the lives of citizens. There is immense potential to be realized, especially in sectors such as health-care (remote medicine), heavy machinery automation (IIoT) and environment management.

Opportunities for IoT and benefits of implementing IoT

IoT is an enabler. Business benefits would include improved situational awareness, comprehensive decision analytics, optimized resource consumption, process optimization and instantaneous control; and near real-time response in complicated autonomous systems. Healthcare, manufacturing, energy, agriculture, automotive are a few sectors which are interested in implementing IoT.

Challenges to Indian Market

One of the major challenges is the availability of high-speed internet connectivity. With the arrival of 5G, this will no longer be a concern. You see, we are still in the early stages of IoT adoption. The ecosystem is maturing here. I wouldn’t like to address such issues as challenges instead we can call them opportunities. These are gaps that are waiting to be addressed through innovation. We have to look beyond such challenges. Even in the case of 5G, the Indian Government wants the nation to get 5G along with rest of the world and that is a significant step.

Countries across the globe are today looking up to India to solve critical problems in the healthcare, service delivery, transport, communication and education domains and we have to recognize the role IoT will be playing in this. IoT, as I have said before, is an enabler. It is a solution that fosters solutions.

Real life examples of IoT pilots or initiatives in India

A leading healthcare provider is using IoT solution to monitor temperature variation in refrigerators storing vital fluids. There’s a law enforcement agency using our solution to curb instances of drunken driving. And these are just a few examples. We have many other IoT solutions that have been successfully deployed.

Future of IoT in India

Dr. Rishi Bhatnagar, President, Aeris Communications (India)

Dr. Rishi Bhatnagar, President, Aeris Communications, India, shares his thaoughts, “I am optimistic about the prospects of IoT in India. India has a habit of leapfrogging across technologies because we are the nation of possibilities and potential and time and again we have risen to address complex challenges using technology – be it the green revolution or the mobile revolution, we have shown we our capabilities in the past and will continue to do so in the future. With IoT acting as a primer for change, the possibilities get multiplied by a factor. Beyond smart cities and connected healthcare, India will see another revolution in agriculture produce management with IoT-driven supply chain management practices.”