Since 1980, the share of the tertiary sector in the total GDP of India has

The tertiary (services) sector’s share in India’s GDP has exhibited a clear increasing trend since 1980. Official analysis shows a sharp rise in services’ share from about 37% in 1980 to roughly 49% by 2002, highlighting rapid expansion in IT and other services [1]. Over the longer period 1977–78 to 2017–18, production grew most in the tertiary sector, which by 2017–18 had become the largest producing sector, replacing primary activities [2]. More recent estimates indicate services account for over half of gross value added (around 54% in 2020–21), confirming the sustained upward trajectory of the tertiary share in national income [3].

Sources

1. [1] https://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/publications/industrial_development/2_3.pdf
2. [2] Understanding Economic Development. Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY > Rising Importance of the Tertiary Sector in Production > p. 23
3. [3] Indian Economy, Nitin Singhania .(ed 2nd 2021-22) > Chapter 14: Service Sector > NTRODUCTION > p. 424