India’s online higher education market to grow 10x in next 5 years

New Delhi: Buoyed by the continuous remote learning amid the pandemic, the online higher education market in India will grow 10 times over the next five years to reach $5 billion by the financial year 2025, a new report said on Monday.

The market will grow driven by new reforms set forth, including the increase in public spending (targeted at 6 per cent of the nation’s GDP), relaxation in regulations governing degrees, supply side capacity gaps, need realisation among students and professionals and transition to credit system, according to Bengaluru-based market research firm RedSeer.

Edtech was one of the main sectors which saw a huge boost after the pandemic.

According to the report, India’s online higher education and lifelong user base will grow at a CAGR of 50 per cent till FY25.

“A key indicator of any industry remains the growth user base. In this case, the user base consists of the students and other categories including professionals with varying experiences, entrepreneurs among others,” the report mentioned.

In India, it is expected to grow from 90 million individuals in FY20 to 133 million individuals by FY25.

The paid users are expected to increase from 1.2 per cent to 8.1 per cent in the next five years.

After schools and colleges shut and lakhs of people lost jobs, many enrolled in online courses to upgrade their academics as well as learn new technologies to grow in their careers.

“The industry though has been seeing a gradual growth over the years, it received a major boost post pandemic. India has been showing strong growth in the edtech sector, a similar trend like China,” the report said.

China has shown significant market potential in the edtech sector over the last years.

The market stood at $250 million in FY20 and is expected to grow upto $295 million by FY25.