Facebook can be part of India's growth story

Internet has played a pivotal role in the growth of the nations all over the world and as far as India is concerned it plays a significant role in creating small and medium businesses (SMBs) which provides employment to a large number of people. India is one of the fastest growing economy in the world but the growth rate have plunged to less than 5 % in the last couple of years. This may be due to lack of Infrastructure, high unemployment rate, unreformed financial sector, huge fiscal deficit, low industrial and agriculture production. Social networks is such medium which can play a pivotal role in India's growth story under newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is the second most popular leader in the world on Facebook.

Facebook Chief Operating officer(COO) Sheryl Sandberg who is currently in India reiterated that the company's growth in India is very strong and no country in the world has more potential than India. "Our growth here is very, very strong. India is the company's second largest market after the US and is of critical importance as Facebook banks on a growing mobile user base for its success. It has 100 million users in India with 84 million using the social networking service through their mobile devices."

Facebook second largest market in India

Social network giant Facebook has seen exponential growth in India which is it's second largest market as far as user-base is concerned.

"India has the potential to become the largest economy in the world. And if you look at economic growth, particularly recently, jobs is a very hard situation all over the world. From the US to developing markets, everyone is very concerned about jobs." "And majority of the growth, as I understand it, is certainly here, certainly in the US. In most countries, I have visited, SMBs are the way to growth," Sandberg said.

Facebook has 100 million users in India

While in another interview to NDTV, the former management consultant with McKinsey & Company and an economist with the World Bank, said that India is second largest users with more than 100 million though the challenge is to bring next billion Indians on Facebook. "India is a very promising market with very active Facebook users. It should become Facebook's largest market. There are a billion people in India who haven't connected and will connect. It's an endless opportunity to grow with very active Facebook users", she said.

Role of social network in economic growth

Being the second largest market for the Facebook in the world, India has a huge growth potential. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter help individual to connect to people which will ultimately generate employment leading to economic growth. With current growth rate being less than 5 %, micro businesses can contribute to nearly 8% of GDP. Various interactions between political and social leaders in the social network platform also help in forming policies. Facebook is also currently focusing on online advertising market in India which can drive growth.

"We really want to invest here because the returns are so great both for our local and global business," said Sandberg. "As people are spending more time on digital, marketers will go there....The users we have in the US represent a large portion of the US population. The 100 million that we have in India do not represent a large portion of the Indian population, which means there's such huge opportunity for growth here."

Sandberg who is also to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the social network giant is looking forward to have partnership with Government, NGOs and private companies to reap forward growth.

Narendra Modi second most popular leader on Facebook

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has been very much popular in the social media during his campaign for the Lok Sabha election is the second most famous leader in the world after US President Barack Obama. With over 18 million Facebook friends, Prime Minister Narendra Modi clearly understands the importance of social media which played a pivotal role in his promotional campaign for the Lok Sabha election.

Social media was not only an eloquent part of Indian elections but also has a say in every important event in the world. We have become so much dependant on social media that as a developing nation we cannot imagine growth and development without connecting to each other. Social networks like Facebook has the potential to generate massive employment and can significantly contribute to India's GDP. Due to the current floundering state of the economy, unemployment is a huge problem in India even though there is no lack of labour and skilled people. A country's progress can reach a new level and no doubt Facebook can be part of India's growth story.