The website -- Auctionindia.com -- offers free listing and access to buyers and sellers. Customers who do not have computers can also make use of the service by authorising Cyber Commerce to make bids on their behalf. The company communicates with buyers upon request when a particular machinery desired by the buyer gets listed on the site.

The company has expertise in auctioning through the Web, having developed similar products for Internet Auctioneers International Inc and one product for IBM.

Addressing a media meet here on Tuesday, company promoter Shiv Kumar said the service has been tailored to Indian conditions, particularly where connectivity is a problem.

Cyber Commerce ensures, through legal contracts, that products put up for auction cannot be pulled off the website after the process of auctioning begins. The form can be downloaded from the Net, filled and mailed to the company to signify assent. A display period is allowed and the seller can choose to pull out if he contracts a buyer before the auction process.Similarly, the buyer would have to pay into an escrow account if he is the highest bidder. The escrow account acts as an insurance against bad payments. If the buyer does not fulfill this obligation, the second highest bidder is selected, who will have to pay into the escrow and so on. In case of sale of large plants, pre-qualified bids are admitted.

The company is negotiating with ICICI Bank and Indian Bank to provide the escrow facility.

Cyber Commerce has tied up with ITCOT for the southern regions to act as the appraisal agency. ITCOT can, upon request of the buyer, inspect the goods physically and come out with an independent evaluation, which could help the buyer negotiate a better deal. The report will remain confidential with the buyer.

Similarly, Cyber Commerce is scouting for other similar inspection agencies in the northern belt (Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh) and the western belt (Maharashtra and Gujarat).

The website, inaugurated a few months ago, already has 30 industrial units which have registered as many as 500 industrial machines. The site allows easy search facilities for a particular type of machine in various industries, for buyers to choose. The first auction is expected to go online shortly.

The internet auction will be kept open on site for a few days for buyers to place competitive bids. The bid history and the current highest bids will be always displayed. Bidders can ask the site to bid on their behalf up to a pre-determined value. The computer conducts the entire auction in a transparent manner. These auctions can also be carried along with sealed tender procedures, wherein the tender document gets opened online and auctioning proceeds after the floor price gets determined on the highest quotation. This system is expected to be benefit banks and other institutions.

The company also offers its own platform to any business to conduct auction for any product or service, by linking up the two sites. The company expects to earn a revenue of Rs 5 crore in three years.