India's gig economy hits 12 million workers, growing faster than regular jobs
India's gig workforce has jumped from 7.7 million to 12 million in just four years—a 55% boost, thanks to widespread smartphone use and over 15 billion UPI transactions every month.
The gig sector now makes up more than 2% of all jobs in the country and is outpacing traditional employment.
E-commerce tops the charts for gig jobs
E-commerce leads the way with 3.7 million gig workers, followed by logistics (1.5 million) and banking/finance/insurance (1 million).
Manufacturing adds about a million more and healthcare about 0.3 million, showing how diverse these gigs have become.
Young, urban crowd drives the gig scene
Most gig workers are between 24 and 38 years old, mainly based in big cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, Chennai, Pune, and Mumbai.
Roles range from delivery gigs to skilled work like coding or medical consulting.
Pay gaps and challenges remain—but growth looks strong
Even with this boom, about 40% of gig workers earn under ₹15k a month due to unpredictable pay and algorithm-driven job assignments.
Getting credit is tough too without much financial history.
Still, by 2029-30 non-farming gigs could make up nearly 7% of India's workforce—and new social security rules aim to bring better benefits like portable PF and insurance for these workers.