The cloud computing market in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 40 per cent by 2014, from an estimated USD 66.7 million in 2009, driven by cost and performance efficiencies, IT research firm IDC today said.

According to IDC's 'India Cloud Computing Market: Current State and Future Roadmap Study 2010', the Indian public cloud computing market was estimated to be USD 66.7 million in 2009.

Cloud computing is an internet-based facility to share technological resources, software and digital information. The emerging field would function on a pay-per-use model, helping companies bring down operational costs.

"In the backdrop of the global economic slowdown, cloud computing has gained wide interest. The most attractive feature of this new technology is the prospect of converting large, upfront capital investments in IT infrastructure into smaller, manageable 'pay-per-use' annuity payments," IDC India Lead Analyst (Software and Services Research) Kamal Vohra said.

This feature has sparked a high degree of interest and debate among technology vendors, users and channel partners alike, he added.

The study mapped the current adoption levels and preferences of Indian enterprises based on interviews with nearly 700 medium and large enterprises.

The study noted that since cloud computing is at a nascent stage, there is an issue of lack of awareness, which affects the overall adoption of cloud computing in India.

"A significant segment of the market is aware of the concept, but do not really understand what it actually means or how it can benefit them," IDC India Lead Analyst (User Research) Indranil Dutta said.

As the market matures and more industry vertical specific applications become available, we expect more and more Indian enterprises to see the benefit of adopting cloud computing, he added.