Expert Insights: CEO Shivam Kumar on Metaverse in India
By Shivam Kumar
It’s strange to think that the word metaverse barely existed in our daily vocabulary a few years ago. Now it’s everywhere—on investor decks, startup roadmaps, government forums. And yet, I think we still haven’t really scratched the surface of what it can be. Especially in India.
I’m not interested in repeating buzzwords. What I want to do here is reflect—based on what we’ve seen firsthand at Volga Infosys Private Limited—on where the metaverse is headed in India, and how we can shape its evolution in ways that are both ambitious and grounded.
Because here’s the thing: in India, the metaverse doesn’t need to replicate Western models. It needs to respond to our own challenges. Our own diversity. Our speed. Our scale.
The Hype vs. The Reality
Let’s begin with the obvious. The hype cycle has been intense.
At one point, it felt like every company was rushing to claim its slice of the virtual world—real estate, avatars, NFTs, the works. But for most people, the experience didn’t quite live up to the promise.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The early excitement brought in talent, capital, and experimentation. But now, I believe we’re in the phase where clarity matters more than hype. Where function matters more than flash.
And in India, function is everything.
Our Needs Are Different
India is not a monolith. Urban metropolises with 5G infrastructure exist alongside rural districts with limited connectivity. You can’t assume every user will have the latest headset or a high-end GPU.
That’s forced us—at Volga Infosys—to think differently.
Instead of chasing realism for its own sake, we focus on accessibility. Browser-based metaverse spaces. Lightweight XR apps. Hybrid environments that work on smartphones.
One of our projects involved creating a virtual onboarding space for a large Indian enterprise. The brief? Make it immersive—but make it load on a budget smartphone. So we stripped out unnecessary elements, optimized textures, and built a modular platform. The result? Over 80% employee engagement—without asking them to upgrade devices.
The Indian metaverse isn’t about escaping reality. It’s about improving access.
Use Cases That Actually Matter
Too often, conversations about the metaverse veer into sci-fi territory. But in India, the real traction is in sectors like:
Education: Virtual classrooms with regional language support.
Healthcare: Remote patient interactions in low-resource areas.
Retail: AR-based product trials for small businesses.
Tourism: Digital twin walkthroughs for historical sites.
We’re not building for luxury. We’re building for reach. For relevance.
And here’s something that surprised us: small institutions—like district-level schools or regional NGOs—are often the most enthusiastic adopters. They see the metaverse not as a novelty, but as a leapfrog opportunity.
Policy and Industry Are Catching On
India’s government has started exploring frameworks for immersive technology. That’s a promising sign.
But more importantly, there’s a growing network of innovators—startups, design studios, edtech companies—all trying to build ethical, sustainable metaverse tools. It’s not a gold rush. It’s a quiet, collaborative movement.
At Volga Infosys, we’ve made it a point to stay part of these conversations. To share learnings, failures, and frameworks. We don’t claim to have all the answers. But we’ve tested enough to know what doesn’t work—and what might.
That’s part of the reason our nomination for the 2025 Go Global Awards means so much. It’s not just about recognition. It’s about being invited to a global conversation. The event, hosted in London this November by the International Trade Council, brings together minds from around the world who are thinking about the future of business—not in isolation, but as a shared project.
And India has a voice in that. A strong one.
What Comes Next?
If you ask me where the Indian metaverse is going, I’ll say this: it’s going wherever we decide to steer it.
We can build platforms that are inclusive, multilingual, secure, and deeply local. We can avoid the pitfalls of closed ecosystems and user exploitation that plagued earlier digital waves.
But it requires intention. It requires humility. And it requires remembering that the real magic of the metaverse isn’t in the graphics. It’s in the connections it enables. The empathy it builds. The access it provides.
That’s what we’re aiming for at Volga Infosys. Not a fantasy world. But a useful one. A shared one.
Metaverse in India? It’s not coming. It’s already here.