India’s extremely fast-growing economy wasn’t entirely halted by the recent global pandemic, although it took a hit. Many industries and companies have found a way to thrive and continue to open up new locations, branches, or otherwise adapt themselves to the new business environment. You can expect to continue to see these industries thrive, even as things begin to open up again. These industries are giving the government hope that the economy will recover itself quickly, especially as they continue to encourage this growth.

The country has always been known for its growing manufacturing and tech industries, and those have come in handy these last two years, as so many businesses have had to shut down. So many others have figured out how to grow their brands and appeal to a public stuck at home due to a health crisis.

1. Expanding Tech

This isn’t new, but the way the tech industry has evolved has given way to new types of jobs and new types of services. For example, one of the most popular start-up categories this last year according to Statista is financial apps. With the growth of smartphones, much of the public has begun to rely on this digitization for everyday purposes. Although the older generations have resisted the switch to a technologically adept lifestyle, this year has forced many to learn how to pay bills and address their financial needs not just from a computer but from smartphone apps. The app store lists dozens of new apps daily that aggregate bills and leaves them easy to pay, apps that save money for a rainy day, apps that list subscriptions and make them easy to cancel, etc.

2. Digital and Social Media Marketing

Again, thanks to the rise of smartphones, many businesses are figuring out ways to still be appealing in the digital world. This has led to a huge rise in the number of young people pursuing careers in advertising and learning about algorithms in order to become marketing experts. Now that it is absolutely vital to have a social media presence, there is a huge emerging market that will continue to make money as older businesses turn to younger advertisers in hopes of remaining relevant to the economy.

3. Online Gaming and Gambling

Technological improvements in internet access, cell phone usage, and video game console have made gaming an extremely popular, and profitable industry in India. With gamers continually focusing on creating live streams on YouTube and Twitch, more gaming companies continue to open up and create better, more high-quality games. Similarly, in that respect, the online gambling industry has continued to grow, with justgamblers.com reporting that 15 new casinos have opened up in just the last year.

4. AI and Automation

More households than ever are able to equip their homes with AI technology, like Amazon’s Alexa or Google hubs that rely on voice commands to perform various services. This has opened India up and encouraged the creation of similar local companies that focus on either creating this technology, aggregating it to make it easier to use, or even technicians that have the know-how to fix these technologies. Restaurants and other businesses are also switching to automation – from ordering food off of a menu to replacing workers with skilled robots. Economists have speculated that the rise of this industry will give way to more jobs that center around programming, maintaining, or improving this automation.

5. Digital Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals

Another way the pandemic disrupted life was through the healthcare industry. Suddenly, elderly patients who were used to seeing their doctors at scheduled intervals couldn’t do much and had to resort to video chatting with their healthcare professionals. Pharmacies were closed or staff was limited, and it became difficult to access medication. At the same time, the hospital system was overwhelmed with patients. This has led to a digital revolution in the healthcare industry worldwide, but especially in India, where the population is large, and it became a necessity to digitize. This created a gap for new companies to come in that help hospitals securely save and process patient information, transfer documents, and schedule appointments and other services. These digital healthcare companies will continue to expand into a billion-rupee industry, as Nidhi Jain, Founder of KareXpert, expressed in an interview with financialexpress.com.

Priyanka Dutta