India now third biggest internet user

With a user base of 100 million, India now stands third in the world in terms of the number of people surfing the net, an official of internet search engine Google said here Tuesday.

"China has the highest number of internet users at 300 million followed by the US with 207 million. India comes third with the number of internet users now soaring to 100 million," Vinay goel, head of products, Google India, told mediapersons.

Of the internet users in the country, 40 million access the net through mobile phones.

"Our estimate is that by 2012, the number of mobile internet users will surpass those entering the net via their laptops or desktops. The number of mobile internet surfers in India is growing rapidly. In 2007, the country had only two million such users. Now the number has gone up 20 times," Goel said.

However, he pointed out that there was a massive scope of increasing the user base in the mobile internet space as the figure of 40 million comprises only eight percent of those carrying mobile phones.

Goel said most of the internet users in the country search for songs.