The number of Internet users in India is expected to rise 18.53 percent in the coming eight months to reach 24.3 crore by June 2014, on the back of higher adoption of mobiles as a means to access the Internet, a report Wednesday said. India is also expected to overtake the US as the second largest Internet base in the world by the same time.

"The report estimates that by June 2014, India will have 243 million Internet users, at which point of time, it is expected to overtake the US as the second largest Internet base in the world," the I-Cube 2013 report, released by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International said.

At present, China leads with more than 300 million Internet users while the US has an estimated 207 million Internet users. The report said Internet access from mobile devices will see huge growth in the coming years. The report said the number of mobile Internet users has witnessed a steady rise, with 11 crore users in October and is estimated to reach 13 crore by the end of December this year.

"Mobile Internet is going to be the next game changer for Internet in India." it added. "Mobile usage and hence, mobile Internet usage has seen huge jump from the 2012 penetration levels. Compared to the 0.4 percent mobile Internet users in 2012, the penetration has grown to 2.4 percent, indicating a substantial growth in the mobile Internet user penetration levels," the report said.

Of all the active Internet users, close to 90 percent use Internet for online communication and under this, e-mail communication commands the highest share of 78 percent. "Social Networking continues to be the rage with 75 percent of the users engaging in it actively while 69 percent use the Internet for entertainment," it said.