Indian E-Commerce Forecast To Reach $575m By 2002
By Uday Lal Pai
InternetNews India Correspondent
[13 August 199] India will be among the four Asian markets to have more than five million Internet users and e-commerce will account for $575 million by financial year 2002-03, says IDC India, Indian arm of the global IT market research.
But a good number of companies in India have still not entered the field, says another survey.
According to Ravi Sangal, president of IDC (India), the low cost of computers, increasing penetration of the Internet and cyber laws will fuel the growth of e-commerce in India. Last year (1998-99) transactions over the Net in India stood at a mere $ 30 million.
Ravi said that initially, the business to consumer (B to C) segment would account for the deals done on the Net while the rest would be Business to Business (B to B). Cyber Laws are yet to be approved by Parliament.
The survey also revealed that most PC owners would plan to get their PCs connected to the Internet. The current installed base of PCs in India is estimated at 3.2 million (legal markets). IDC expects annual sales of PCs to jump to 2.62 million units by 2001-02.
The Indian IT market is set to become the third largest market in the Asia Pacific region in four years time from its current fifth position. A 28 per cent compounded annual growth rate between 1998-2003 would catapult India into the third largest market after China and Australia, said Dane Anderson, vice-president, computing systems, IDC Asia pacific.
With five million users adding to the Net, India will be the second largest market in Asia Pacific. China is expected to have over 15 million users, followed by India with about 8 million, and Australia and Korea slightly behind.
However, Indian companies are yet to tap e-commerce potential, according to yet another survey. A survey result released by India's market research company IMRB revealed that Indian companies are optimistic about the potential of this medium. Companies expect e-commerce to contribute nearly 17% to their turn over by 2004.
At present, however, of the 318 chief information officers surveyed, only 20 percent said that their organizations were trying to use e-commerce to some extent. The remaining 80 per cent are still in the process of gearing up for the show.
According to the respondents, the key barriers in the adoption of e-commerce include lack of proper commercial and legal system, lack of infrastructure, awareness and a conducive environment.
However, the department of electronics (DoE) is also bullish on e-commerce. "The next millennium will be one of e-culture. We expect that E-C will account for $ 175 million in India over the next two years. Every 1.67 seconds, one new user will sign up on the Net" said Ravindra Gupta, secretary, DoE.
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