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Technology Stocks : Satyam Infoway Ltd-(Nasdaq:SIFY) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (1118)	3/11/2000 2:12:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1471

OT Bharat Petroleum Launches B2B Site bharatpetroleum.com By Uday Lal Pai India Correspondent, asia.internet.com [March 9, 2000--MUMBAI] India's giant public-sector-undertaking Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has launched a B2B portal while a B2C site is expected within two weeks. "The company is preparing to leverage the Internet to establish a leadership position in the petroleum industry," said a company spokesperson. "We plan to leverage IT to build customer relationships," he added. The B2B platform allows industrial consumers to place their order and track them online. The company claims that approximately 500 transactions are posted on the site everyday. The proposed B2C site, on the other hand, will enable non-industrial (home) consumers to order refills of cooking gas and other products online. According to S Ramesh, deputy general manager of BPCL, the company put its e-commerce strategy in place a few months ago. BPCL is increasingly focusing on non-fuel offering such as car washes, ATMs and Internet kiosks, as well as 'dhabas' (open-air highway restaurants) and restrooms, said company sources. The oil giant is currently undertaking a massive 'terminalization' of retail outlets all over India to handle credit, debit and smartcard-based transactions, and is setting up smartcard-enabled Internet kiosks in retail outlets as part of its e-commerce drive. BPCL recently launched its Petrocard in select cities. This debit card has a 4KB microprocessor chip capable of supporting a variety of functions, and can be purchased by consumers for a one-time fee. The company is offering prepaid and reward services, in the belief that cash should not remain the predominant form of payment in e-commerce