It all began with the Internet. A solve-all new concept that took the entire world by storm. From the progress of the Pathfinder on Mars to information on a whole spectrum of issues, everything is available on the Net with just a click of the mouse. But closer home, the Internet still remains an esoteric concept, little understood by people. The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce recently held a special management event, `Your Business on the Web', to help disseminate information about the Internet, its advantages and problems.

Observes Ashok Desai, managing director, Silicon Graphics, and vice-president, Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, ``The US conducts electronic commerce worth about $1 billion every year and there are opportunities in terms of new jobs. Nearly one million new jobs were created by setting up home pages. In India, there are about 20,000 subscribers today and if VSNL remains the only service provider, the number will grow to two lakh by 2000. On the other hand, if private companies are allowed in, the number could be much higher as they will bring in the latest software and hardware.''

Apart from being a great source of information, the Internet aids in propagating electronic commerce. This is in terms of new jobs, accelerating the pace of business, saving money and time and catching up with the rest of the world. Says Rajesh Jain, managing director, Ravi Database Pvt. Ltd, ``The few Indian companies that have been active on the Internet have already reaped rich dividends. For instance, ICICI raised its NRI deposits from 4.5 per cent to 10 per cent. About 700-800 Indian companies have a presence on the Web. Once the companies realise that the Net is a business medium, the growth will be rapid.''

Some sites that have been very active and made a mark on the medium are ICICI in banking, Kotak Securities in finance, Indian Express in publishing, Hindustan Lever Ltd in recruitment, the Reserve Bank of India in information dissemination and Amul in brand extension.

A company wanting to hook on to the Net must first register its domain. This is done via a US society called Internic, at a cost ranging between $150 and $200. Next, it has to reserve a place for itself on a server. For this, there are server farms; Cerfnet is the largest player here. The annual fee for one year can range from Rs 4-5 lakh, though much of it depends on the kind of requirements. To access the Internet, you have to get in touch with the service provider. In India, VSNL is the sole window as yet to the Internet and it charges Rs 15,500 for a connect time of 500 hours.

About the advantages of the Internet, Jain says, ``The ground rules for doing business globally are changing. Indian companies can save a lot of money by doing business on the Net. For instance, by putting its form on the Web, ICICI has saved almost Rs 8 lakh and without any time lag in the last four months. If it were to send the forms by courier, it would cost a minimum of Rs 1,000; in the last four months, almost 1,000 people have asked for the form. Global electronic commerce is expected to touch $150 billion by 2000 -- so it is important for Indian companies to be on the Net rather than be left out.''

For electronic commerce to succeed, it is important for money transactions to be allowed on the Net. Experts say that with full convertibility of the rupee expected in the next 12-18 months, this problem will be taken care of. Also, with private participation, Internet users in India will grow to one million by 2000 and 10 million by 2005. This means that companies that are hooked on to the Net will find their business opportunities grow by leaps and bounds.

But before such a growth translates into reality, there are some fundamental problems that the Net faces in India. Says Desai, ``These relate to high tariffs, high costs of lease lines, expensive computers and infrastructure and the fact that the government does not allow transfer of coded data over the Net. Interestingly, some of the impediments are due to the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885. You cannot expect progress if you live in an anachronistic era.''

The Internet is a natural technology to adopt, considering our geographical spread. For any company, small or big, the gateway to the future is the Internet. Experts claim that irrespective of the kind of business you have -- banking, publishing, advertising, finance, recruiting or even hamburgers -- it is important to be on the Internet if you don't want your business opportunities to dry up. With more and more companies creating a site on the Web, it does make a lot of business sense to be slotted on the Net.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.