It is a well known fact that the Youth segment in India is one of the most lucrative consumer groups for marketers around the world. And this fact was further affirmed with a new research from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) which reveals that the Indian Youth are increasingly finding flavour with the digital age including for the mobile services.

The survey throws out the following findings:

• 63% of urban students spend over an hour online daily

• 93% are aware of social networking

• Orkut and Facebook are most popular online destinations

• 46% use online sources to access news; TV, Newspaper users at 25%

• 62% have a personal computer at home

• 1 in 4 students own lap-tops in metros; 2 of 3 own music players

• IT and engineering remain overwhelming popular career choices

• Media & Entertainment, Travel and Tourism are emerging careers

• USA, UK top list of international destinations for higher studies

The survey also had special findings pertaining to the Delhi region:

• Amongst metros Delhi youth uses library (13%) the most for information source

• Internet access from school in Delhi (31%) is highest amongst all cities

• Maximum youth in Delhi have access to mobile phone (99%) and digital camera (72%) against rest of India

• More Delhi youth (28%) gets over Rs. 1,000 as pocket money than any other city

• IT is the preferred career choice for 40% of students. Amongst these, one in four wish to work on new digital technology, higher than national, mini metro or metro average

The survey was conducted by TCS across 14,000 high school children between the ages of 12-18 in 12 cities across India during 2008-09.

“Nearly one out of 10 people on the planet are under 25 years old and living in India.  That is the significance of India’s next generation and what they do, think and aspire to hold insights for all those who aim to engage with this Web2.0 Generation,” said Mr. S Ramadorai, CEO and MD, TCS.  “The TCS Generation Web 2.0 survey confirms that today’s students are shifting their academic and social life online and embracing the digital world as true digital natives.  This societal trend has important implications for parents, educators, policy makers, as future employers as well as companies and brands that want to sell to tomorrow’s generation”. 

The survey says that over 80 % of urban youth have access to mobile phones.

The survey classifies the youth in four segments The Globetrotter, The Gadgetphile, The Nation-Builder and The Social networker.