The projection
NITI Aayog projected the gig workforce to roughly triple, from about 77 lakh in 2020–21 to 2.35 crore by 2029–30 — around 4.1% of all livelihoods in India. Its skill mix was expected to shift too: about 27.5% high-skilled and 33.8% low-skilled by 2030, with the middle in between. Like all such projections it rests on limited data, and the report says so; the direction, though, is not in dispute.
Three engines
- Platforms. Delivery, mobility and quick commerce created millions of task-based roles in a few years, and pushed the model into tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
- Skills online. Design, code, tutoring, editing and writing became sellable from anywhere with a connection — often to clients in other cities or countries.
- Content. The fastest-growing and least-counted engine. Industry reporting has India’s creator base growing roughly fourfold between 2020 and 2025, to about 4.12 million, driven by cheap data, short video and vernacular audiences.
Where the growth is happening
Not in the metros. New internet users, new creators and new gig workers are disproportionately in smaller cities and towns, and brands are following them — regional creator campaigns now deliver higher engagement at lower cost than metro ones. The gig economy’s next 1.5 crore workers will mostly not live in Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru.
What growth needs to hold
India’s Economic Survey and the ILO have both pointed to the same requirements: predictable earnings, fair contracts, social security, and dispute resolution that works. For creators specifically, the equivalents are clear briefs, on-time payment, proper tax handling, and transparent rules. Platforms that get those right will carry the growth; platforms that treat gig workers as a cost line will not. Our Creators Agreement, Billing Terms and Tax Info pages are how we try to get it right.