INTRODUCTION

In the emerging global economy, e-commerce and e-business have increasingly

become a necessary component of business strategy and a strong catalyst for
economic development. The integration of information and communications
technology(ICT) in business has revolutionized relationships within
organizations and those between and among organizations and individuals.
Specifically, the use of ICT in business has enhanced productivity, encouraged
greater customer participation, and enabled mass customization, besides
reducing costs. With developments in the Internet and Web-based
technologies, distinctions between traditional markets and the global
electronic marketplace-such as business capital size, among others-are
gradually being narrowed down. The name of the game is strategic positioning,
the ability of a company to determine emerging opportunities and utilize the
necessary human capital skills (such as intellectual resources) to make the
most of these opportunities through an e-business strategy that is simple,
workable and practicable within the context of a global information milieu and
new economic environment. With its effect of leveling the playing field, e-
commerce coupled with the appropriate strategy and policy approach enables
small and medium scale enterprises to compete with large and capital-rich
businesses .On another plane, developing countries are given increased access
to the global marketplace, where they compete with and complement the
more developed economies.
Most, if not all, developing countries are already participating in e-commerce,
either as sellers or buyers. However, to facilitate e-commerce growth in these
countries, the relatively underdeveloped information infrastructure must be
improved. It is recognized that in the Information Age, Internet commerce is a
powerful tool in the economic growth of developing countries. While there are
indications of ecommerce patronage among large firms in developing
countries, there seems to be little and negligible use of the Internet for
commerce among small and medium sized firms. E-commerce promises better
business for SMEs and sustainable economic development for developing
countries. However, this is premised on strong political will and good
governance, as well as on a responsible and supportiveprivate sector within an
effective policy framework.

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DEFINITION OF ECOMMERCE
E-commerce is the use of electronic communications and digital information
processing technology in business transactions to create, transform, and
redefine relationships for value creation between or among organizations, and
between organizations and individuals. Electronic commerce is generally
considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange
of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of the business
transactions.

TYPES OF ECOMMERCE
The major different types of e-commerce are: business-to-business (B2B);
businessto- consumer (B2C); business-to-government (B2G); consumer-to-
consumer (C2C); and mobile commerce (m-commerce).
B2C
B2B e-commerce is simply defined as e-commerce between companies. This is
the type of e-commerce that deals with relationships between and among
businesses. About 80% of e-commerce is of this type, and most experts predict
that B2B ecommerce will continue to grow faster than the B2C segment. The
B2B market has two primary components: e-frastructure and e-markets.
Efrastructureis the architecture of B2B, primarily consisting of the following:
● logistics - transportation, warehousing and distribution (e.g., Procter and
Gamble);
● application service providers - deployment, hosting and management of
packaged software from a central facility (e.g., Oracle and Linkshare);
● outsourcing of functions in the process of e-commerce, such as Web-hosting,
security and customer care solutions (e.g., outsourcing providers such as
eShare, NetSales, iXL Enterprises and Universal Access);
● auction solutions software for the operation and maintenance of real-time
auctions in the Internet (e.g., Moai Technologies and OpenSite Technologies);
● content management software for the facilitation of Web site content
management and delivery (e.g., Interwoven and ProcureNet); and

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● Web-based commerce enablers (e.g., Commerce One, a browser-based,
XMLenabled purchasing automation software).
B2C
Business-to-consumer e-commerce, or commerce between companies and
consumers, involves customers gathering information; purchasing physical
goods (i.e., tangibles such as books or consumer products) or information
goods (or goods of electronic material or digitized content, such as software, or
e-books); and, for information goods, receiving products over an electronic
network.12
It is the second largest and the earliest form of e-commerce. Its origins can be
traced to online retailing (or e-tailing).13 Thus, the more common B2C
business models are the online retailing companies such as Amazon.com,
Drugstore.com, Beyond.com, Business-to-government e-commerce or B2G is
generally defined as commerce between companies and the public sector. It
refers to the use of the Internet for public procurement, licensing procedures,
and other government-related operations. This kind of e-commerce has two
features: first, the public sector assumes a pilot/leading role in establishing e-
commerce; and second, it is assumed that the public sector has the greatest
need for making its procurement system more effective.15 Web-based
purchasing policies increase the transparency of the procurement process (and
reduces the risk of irregularities). To date, however, the size of the B2G
ecommerce market as a component of total e-commerce is insignificant, as
government e-procurement systems remain undeveloped Barnes and Noble
and ToysRus. Other B2C examples involving information goods are E-Trade and
Travelocity.
B2G
Business-to-government e-commerce or B2G is generally defined as commerce
between companies and the public sector. It refers to the use of the Internet
for public procurement, licensing procedures, and other government-related
operations. This kind of e-commerce has two features: first, the public sector
assumes a pilot/leading role in establishing e-commerce; and second, it is
assumed that the public sector has the greatest need for making its
procurement system more effective.
Web-based purchasing policies increase the transparency of the procurement
process (and reduces the risk of irregularities). To date, however, the size of
the B2G ecommerce market as a component of total e-commerce is
insignificant, as government e-procurement systems remain undeveloped.

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C2C
Consumer-to-consumer e-commerce or C2C is simply commerce between
private individuals or consumers. This type of e-commerce is characterized by
the growth of electronic marketplaces and online auctions, particularly in
vertical industries where firms/businesses can bid for what they want from
among multiple suppliers.16 It perhaps has the greatest potential for
developing new markets.
This type of e-commerce comes in at least three forms:
● auctions facilitated at a portal, such as eBay, which allows online real-time
bidding on items being sold in the Web;
● peer-to-peer systems, such as the Napster model (a protocol for sharing files
between users used by chat forums similar to IRC) and other file exchange and
later money exchange models; and
● classified ads at portal sites such as Excite Classifieds and eWanted (an
interactive, online marketplace where buyers and sellers can negotiate and
which features “Buyer Leads & Want Ads”).

MCOMMERCE

It, is the ability to conduct commerce using a mobile device, such as a mobile
phone, a Personal digital assistantPDA, a smartphone, or other emerging
mobile equipment such as dashtop mobile devices. Mobile Commerce has
been defined as follows:
Mobile Commerce is any transaction, involving the transfer of ownership or
rights to use goods and services, which is initiated and/or completed by using
mobile access to computer-mediated networks with the help of an electronic
device.

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FEATURES OF ECOMMERCE
Ubiquity - In traditional commerce, a marketplace is a physical place we visit in
order to transact. For example, television and radio are typically directed to
motivating the customer to go someplace to make a purchase. E-commerce is
ubiquitous, meaning that it is available just about everywhere at all times. It
liberates the market from being restricted to a physical space and makes it
possible to shop from your desktop. The result is called a market space.
From consumer point of view, ubiquity reduces transaction costs - the cost of
participating in a market. To transact, it is no longer necessary that you spend
time and money traveling to a market. At a broader level, the ubiquity of e-
commerce lowers the cognitive energy required to complete a task.
Global Reach - E-commerce technology permits commercial transactions to
cross cultural and national boundaries far more conveniently and effectively as
compared to traditional commerce. As a result, the potential market size for e-
commerce merchants is roughly equal to the size of world's online population.
Universal Standards - One strikingly unusual feature of e-commerce
technologies is that the technical standards of the Internet and therefore the
technical standards for conducting e-commerce are universal standards i.e.
they are shared by all the nations around the world.
Interactivity - Unlike any of the commercial technologies of the twentieth
century, with the possible exception of the telephone, e-commerce
technologies are interactive, meaning they allow for two-way communication
between merchants and consumer.
Information Density and Richness - The Internet vastly increase information
density. It is the total amount and quality of information available to all market
participants, consumers and merchants. E-commerce technologies reduce
information collection, storage, communication and processing costs. At the
same time, these technologies increase greatly the accuracy and timeliness of
information, making information more useful and important than ever. As a
result, information becomes plentiful, cheaper and of higher quality.
Information richness refers to the complexity and content of a message.
Personalization - E-commerce technologies permit personalization. Merchants
can target their marketing messages to specific individuals by adjusting the
message to a person's name, interests and past purchases. The technology also
permits customization. Merchants can change the product or service based on
user's preferences or prior behavior.

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ECOMMERCE IN INDIA
In a country where entrepreneurs are born in every nook and corner, e-
commerce provides a low investment high return opportunity. Traditional
businesses have taken their wares over the net and profited immensely from
it. Now the whole world is their “bazaar”. It started slowly with bazee.com
leading the way. Slowly trade portals and online travel portals joined the
bandwagon. After e-bay acquired bazee.com, the level of access that users had
to e-commerce increased significantly.
Although by most references India only accounts for approximately 2% of the
e-commerce in the Asia-Pacific region, the amount in figures is staggering. It
was estimated at around $2.1 billion in 2008 and predicted to grow to around
$6 billion by 2011 (data compiled from multiple sources). This despite the fact
that only 3.7% of the Indian population has access to the internet (source
www.internetworldstats.com).
If one were to segregate the e-commerce sector, most transactions would fall
into the following categories.
Business to Users
 Where businesses and organizations directly offer their products and
services to the users over the net. Airlines, movie theatres, publishing
houses and travel agencies are predominantly present in this category.
A lot of SME’s have also started offering these services to their
customer base. (eg.www.makemytrip.com)
 Certain organizations use this mode to gain access to talent and
freelancers over the internet and carry out projects for a global
clientele. (eg. www.chillibreeze.com)
 In India banks have now almost entirely migrated to accessing through
e-commerce. There is now a fee charged to customers for transactions
carried out through the branches or for the physical documents
provided.
User to User
 Web 2.0 has given rise to unique opportunities to this type of
transactions. Bazee.com (which was later taken over by e-bay) kicked
off this trend in India. A number of other community and forum sites
have also sprung up catering to this category.
 Currently newer opportunities to use web 2.0 in terms of interaction of
agencies (eg.insurance agencies) are being explored.

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Online Resource transfer
 This transaction majorly deals with transfer of resources (in most cases
money)over the net. Many businesses use this mode of e-commerce to
eliminate physical documentation and reduce transaction time. (eg.
Paypal, banks, western Union)
Trade portals
 Similar to User to user format trade portals are meeting point for trade
agencies to interact and promote or search for specific products for
import-export purposes. (alibaba.com is among the more popular sites
in this category)
Ad-space sales
 Sale of ad-space is an attractive way for earning money. Although an
outright purchase would be similar to buying of media space there are
popular formats which make use of pay-per-click to ensure the right
value of the ad-space. (Google Ad-sense has gained an expertise over
this format). There are individuals who make a career out of this format.
 Another variation of this format is the presence of “invisiads” wherein
games are designed by portals for companies as a part of their branding
strategy. Users join in to play a game but end up leaving with
information being propagated about that particular brand.
Content Access
 Although still in the nascent stage in India, content access is a major
share holder in the e-commerce traffic in India. Many sites provide
limited access to free users and retain the full usability of their sites for
premium paying customers. Market research agencies and publishing
houses are major users of this format. With the arrival of internet TV
and pay-per-view access in India, this category is expected to grow.

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Apart from the obvious impact that online stores like e-bay have had on the
Indian users there are a few traditional sectors in the Indian scenario which
have been influenced by e-commerce and its applications.

Airline Sector
One of the most significant impacts can be seen in the airline sector. This
industry has been predominantly dependant on physical documentation and
the presence of branches (or travel agents) for reach. However with the advent
of e-commerce in India industry players have drastically changed their modus
operandi.
Physical tickets have almost entirely vanished from the airline sector in India.
Travel agents no longer hold a major impact on the business. The whole
process has been brought online thanks to e-commerce. Apart from the web-
sites of individual airlines, there are also portals which provide details of
multiple airlines on one portal for the users to choose from. The balance of
power has now shifted to the consumers.

Banking Sector
As in the case of the Airline Industry the banking sector has been
predominantly dependant on physical documentation and the presence of
branches
For banks e-commerce has provided a major area of cost cutting. The number
of branches and personnel required per area has drastically decreased. The
integration of the ATM networks allows users to access their funds through
multiple sources. The Core Banking Solution pioneered by ICICI bank has even
allowed these banks to reach out to the far corners of India with innovative
and practical solutions for low income rural families. This particular solution
has given a major impetus to kick start micro-finance in India.
E-commerce promises to open up many more opportunities for businesses
across sectors. What we are witnessing now is only the tip of the ice-berg.

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Placement Agencies
The area of Human resource management has been completely redefined.
Sites like naukri.com and monster.com have given recruiters direct access to
talent from across the country. Never before had such a wide talent pool been
available to recruiters. Users could now break away from the grip of placement
agencies which provided commission based services and actually select jobs
they want to apply to online.

Matrimonial Sites
This is a business that could only work in India. With arranged marriages being
predominant in India this business model was uniquely prepared for the Indian
market. Migrating from family pundits to online profiles was readily accepted
by the Indian family. Today a number of Matrimonial sites are prospering (eg.
Shaadi.com) and with tools like e-kundali to support them, they seem to be
here to stay.

FORCES FUELING ECOMMERCE IN INDIA

Economic forces. One of the most evident benefits of e-commerce is economic
efficiency resulting from the reduction in communications costs, low-cost
technological infrastructure, speedier and more economic electronic
transactions with suppliers, lower global information sharing and advertising
costs, and cheaper customer service alternatives.
Market forces. Corporations are encouraged to use e-commerce in marketing
and promotion to capture international markets, both big and small. The
Internet is likewise used as a medium for enhanced customer service and
support. It is a lot easier for companies to provide their target consumers with
more detailed product and service information using the Internet.
Technology forces. The development of ICT is a key factor in the growth of
ecommerce. For instance, technological advances in digitizing content,
compression and the promotion of open systems technology have paved the
way for the convergence of communication services into one single platform.
This in turn has made communication more efficient, faster, easier, and more
economical as the need to set up separate networks for telephone services,
television broadcast, cable television, and Internet access is eliminated. From
the standpoint of firms/businesses and consumers, having only one
information provider means lower communications costs.

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ONLINE USERS IN INDIA AND THEIR USER BEHAVIOUR

India has witnessed an increase in the number of internet users. The behavior
pattern of internet users can be ascertained with respect to different
parameters, which include: users in metros, cities and rural areas, age group of
population accessing internet, and purposes of accessing internet.
The surge in internet usage in small towns and rural India has been more than
that in big cities and metros. In India, the youth drive internet usage. School
and college going students along with young men contribute to 72% of internet
activity. (Source IAMA Report – 2008-2009)
People use internet for various purposes, which include: email, information
search, academic information search, music/video on internet, chatting, online
job search, gaming, financial information search, booking railway tickets,
online news, internet telephony/video chat/voice chat, and online banking.
Top ten sites viewed by Indians during 2009 include:
google.co.in
google.com
yahoo.com
facebook.com
blogger.com
youtube.com
orkut.co.in
rediff.com
wikipedia.org
orkut.com
Indians, being cautious buyers start online shopping with the purchase of
railway or airline tickets. This is perceived as a safe bet due to uniformity of
services to the buyers.

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REASONS FOR GROWTH OF ONLINE USERS IN INDIA

It is predicted that by year 2015, around 65% of Indian population will be in the
age group of 15-35 years. Since youth is an early adaptor of all technology, this
seems to be a positive factor for the Indian eCommerce market.
India has an added advantage of lowest broadband prices in the world, which
is $4-$5 per month. This enhances the potential of online transactions.
Indian population has better adopted mobile phones as compared to internet.
Thus, there is a huge potential of mCommerce in India. Mobile phones provide
flexibility to users to connect to internet without having to find a place to plug
in into the internet. The mobile penetration in India is expected to become 1
billion by 2014, which will further enhance the opportunities of mCommerce.
Currently, there are about 440 million subscribers for mobile phones, which
covers around 40% of the country’s population.
India has already started the efforts to provide biometric identity to all its
citizens. This is equivalent to Social Security Number in the West. Having this
unique identity in place, online financial transactions would become much
safer as they can be easily tracked and subject to law.

SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
 E-Commerce helps to Increase the sales revenue to the business
 Business people can spend less money and earn high profits with e-
commerce
 It is very Easier to scale up online
 Easily we can track the segment of customers who are happy with
purchasing goods through online
 Avoid losing sales to competitors who are online
 Instantaneous global sales presence in quick time
 We can Operate the business in 24 *7 basis
 Easily we can increase our business customers
 We set up shop anywhere in the world, self-governing of geographical
locations
 Inexpensive way to turn your Web site into a revenue center

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  Reduce Customer Support costs via e-mail marketing & customary
newsletters
 We can create customized mailing list
 Easily we can drive free traffic to the website
 Instantly we can develop our business across the internet by using
various e-commerce strategies
 Customers can easily buy their products by using different payment
gateways
WEAKNESS
 Things like food, jewellery, antiques etc. can never turn to e-commerce
because it is not possible to inspect them from remove locations.
 Many firms have had trouble recruiting and retaining employees with
the technological, design and business process skills needed to create an
effective electronic commerce presence.
 Frauds are not completely eliminated in the e-commerce transactions.
 Cyber laws are not properly enacted and the existing ones are not clearly
defined.

OPPURTUNITIES
 Financial services and financial guidance.
 Online stock trading.
 The growing internet banking
 Legal and professional services.
 Tour and travel.
 Health care.

CHALLENGES
 Bureaucratic wrangles and cultural changes.
 Lack of skill and training within a company.
 Households are shaky about buying over the internet.
 Lack of proper commercial and legal system.

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FUTURE OF ECOMMERCE IN INDIA
Ecommerce has completely changed the 21st century in a way that few other
technologies have and is actively changing commerce as a whole on a daily
basis.  The amount of information and products that are available online is
growing, and the amount of information people acquire and purchase daily
online is growing also.

The Internet is one of the youngest and fastest growing depositories of

information in today’s world.  Internet growth is still accelerating, which
indicates that the Internet has not yet reached its highest expansion period. 
Over the past decade, ecommerce has grown into a full-blown industry and
today, nearly everyone has made at least one purchase on the internet.

Ecommerce appeals to the masses because of several key reasons.

 It is the most convenient way to shop:  There are no lines to wait in,
there is no driving involved, and ecommerce is open 24 hours a day.
 You can shop in your underwear from the comfort of your home.
 eCommerce usually offers a larger selection than brick and mortar
stores.
 Most ecommerce stores offer bigger discounts and savings on their
products.
 Comparison-shopping is easy because of the vast selection and ability to
browse.
 Finding deals has become very easy and everyone loves deals.
With all of the benefits offered to the typical consumer, it just makes sense
that ecommerce will continue to boom and grow.

Sure, ecommerce benefits the average consumer immensely, but it makes

doing business easier and more economical for merchants and retailers. 
Advancements in technology have provided a fast, cheap way to sell and
market products. Because of the mass appeal of the Internet and the
enormous visibility, advertising and marketing has become an integral part of
the ecommerce business model.

Ecommerce also offers less overhead, a wider marketing base, and eliminates
the need for a physical storefront.  Many of those with a brick and mortar
storefront also have ecommerce sites; and if they don’t – they need one … it is
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just easier and much more efficient to find, compare and decide upon a
purchase online.

The greater visibility ecommerce offers will mean that many businesses can
expand far beyond the limits of their physical store, but it also means a market
at risk of becoming saturated – which is why internet marketing is one of the
most essential aspects of the ecommerce business model.

There are benefits for both the retailer and the consumer.  As more consumers
are drawn to the internet for their shopping needs, more and more retailers
begin doing business on the internet, which leads to more consumers.

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES TO PUSH E-COMMERCE

ACTIVITY
The Government has been taking key initiatives over the past few years to
create an environment that is conducive to E-commerce activity. These include
the following:

 Announcement of the Information Technology Act 2000 which put in

place a cyber law regime in the country
 Announcement of the ISP policy for the entry of private Internet service
providers in November 1998.
 Permission to private ISPs to set up international gateways. Permission
of Internet access through cable TV infrastructure
 Initiation of the setting up of the National Internet Backbone
 Announcement of the national long distance service beyond the service
area to the private operators.
 Complete non-monopolization of undersea fiber connectivity for ISPs on
August 15, 2000.
 Free Right of Way facility, with no charge in cash or kind, to access
providers to lay optical fiber networks along National Highways, State
Highways and other roads.
 Permission for interconnectivity of Government and Closed User Group
(CUG) networks.
 The establishment of Public TeleInfo Centers (PTIC) having multimedia
capabilities has been permitted.
 100 percent FDI has been allowed in B2B e-commerce.

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 Initiatives for E-Commerce Capacity-Building of Small and
Medium Enterprises
There is a need to generate much greater awareness about e-commerce and
its benefits. An appropriate communication strategy needs to be formulated to
spread e-commerce awareness among enterprises by underscoring the
benefits and dispel any misconceptions. The apex industry bodies like the CII
should coordinate with themselves and the Government to educate people in
decision-making positions in Indian organizations. IT education would be a
major driving force towards the development, adoption and growth of e-
commerce in India. To keep pace with the changing software and hardware
scenario it is necessary to emphasize on the current IT trends and develop
quality programmes to impart training and education in contemporary topics.
Newer, better and more effective methods of imparting education are evolving
which will supplement traditional methods of teaching using books, classroom
lectures and written exams on pen and paper. Using modern technologies like
multimedia, online training and testing etc., the emphasis is shifting to
computer-based training which uses text, audio, visuals and animation in
interactive as well as self paced mode. IT education could be encouraged by
facilitating the setting up of institutes for imparting such education, by the way
of tax incentives, etc. The government could partner with business houses to
establish centers for IT training and education in a big way. Currently, 40 per
cent of India’s population is illiterate and only 20 per cent understand English.
Since most of the content in Internet is in English or other foreign languages, a
large portion of the content and applications is not accessible to a significant
majority of the Indian population. Creative solutions need to be thought of for
overcoming this challenge. While, on one hand local language content and
applications need to be developed, on the other hand, voice applications on
Internet accessible through a normal touch tone telephone need to be
developed. The society as a whole needs to guard itself against the emergence
of a digital divide, where the section of the population with access to Internet
gain significant advantage over the others.

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ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN AT NATIONAL LEVEL
The CII and NASSCOM reports and many other businesses have observed that
there are some difficulties associated with the formation of online contracts in
the present formulation of the IT Act. It is argued that legal enforceability of
electronic contracts is open to challenge and legal jurisdiction of contracts
involving international parties is not defined. The Act is also silent on issues
regarding taxation of electronic transactions. Customs duty for cross border
taxation, sales tax, etc. (indirect taxation) for goods and services delivered
electronically are not clearly spelled out. The jurisdiction of e-commerce
transactions is also not clarified. They have also pointed out that there is no
provision for dual-key pairs for individuals and businesses which can create
some difficulties for confidentiality of e-transactions. Other difficulties
associated with the IT Act relate to the cyber crimes which are not fully
covered are an area of concern for the growth of e-commerce. In this context
it is also argued that Law Enforcement Agencies are not fully equipped and
trained to deal in cyber crimes. Safeguards to protect privacy of personal and
business data collected over the Internet are not covered under the Act. Also
the IT Act is silent on the issue of protection of intellectual rights (patents,
trademarks, copyrights) including domain names. Finally, payment gateways
have to evolve to a level that inter-bank settlement should be enabled through
Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS). These are some of the barriers that have
been identified and have to be overcome, in addition to achieving higher
Internet and PC penetration, for the growth of e-commerce. The e-governance
projects initiated by governments at various levels are built around the
following concepts: government wide information infrastructure,
reengineering of government processes, service delivery to citizens on
commercial basis and best practices. The web sites designed for information
dissemination are in the process of moving from the publish mode to the
interact mode and then to the transact mode. Establishment of Public Key
Infrastructure for issuance of certificates to citizens and government agencies,
creating electronic payment gateways for accepting service charges, involving
banks and credit card agencies, and establishing service delivery points are
some of the important elements of e-governance. Finally, there is realization
and consequent emphasis that the digital divide in the country should be

16
minimized; it must not be worse than the existing gaps in other amenities such
as the electric power or supply of drinking water between the rich and poor,
between the urban and rural people. Effective policy framework has been
outlined by the Indian government to bridge this gap. It has launched
community information centers that provide broadband Internet access to
population in the underdeveloped and underprivileged areas such as in the
northeast and hill-area states.

Four areas of focus to nurture E-commerce in India

 Positive business environment for deployment of new telecom

technologies
 Technology/solution providers, industry bodies and government should
educate Indian businesses more on potential benefits from E-commerce

 Businesses who plan to cater to Retail consumers will have to create

awareness and provide reassurances before wooing the consumer to
buy

 Government should play the most active role by enacting cyberlaws,

making positive interventions when needed and ensuring adequate
infrastructure

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CONCLUSION
A developing country can become industrialized and modernized if it can
extensively apply IT to enhance productivity and international competitiveness,
develop e-commerce and e-governance applications. An information-based
society or knowledge based society is composed of IT products, IT applications
in society and economy as a whole. Many countries in Asia are taking
advantage of e-commerce through opening of economies, which is essential
for promoting competition and diffusion of Internet technologies. The Internet
is boosting efficiency and enhancing market integration in developing
countries. The developed world has had a long lead over the developing
countries in the telecom infrastructure. The world average of teledensity is 15
per cent compared to the developed world average of 55 to 60 per cent. Same
is true of PCs, Internet connections, and the number of Internet hosts. All
these traditional indicators for India as seen above are still small. But the total
numbers of Internet connections are large in absolute numbers. Large enough
to have a critical mass of 10 to 20 million users to be able to make an impact
on e-commerce and e-governance. In the next 3 to 5 years, India will have 30
to 70 million Internet users which will equal, if not surpass, many of the
developed countries. Internet economy will then become more meaningful in
India. The number of e-transactions will be large enough to sustain the
Internet economy.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Business India

Business Today

CII, 2001. E-commerce in India

Report of the CII National Committee on E-Commerce 2000-2001 (Confederation of Indian Industry).

Goldman Sachs, 2000. Report on IT Global Services .

Indian Express (Bombay). Statement of the Minister of Communication.

NASSCOM, 2001. NASSCOM Survey (March 2009).

NASSCON and BCG, 2009.

E-Commerce Opportunities for India Inc. (study report prepared by NASSCOM and The Boston
Consulting Group)

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