Sudarshan told The Financial Express that Planetasia is targeting a 400 per cent growth during the fiscal. The company also plans to increase its export market share to 30 per cent and by the next fiscal, exports are expected to contribute 70 per cent to the company's total revenue, he said.

In order to focus clearly on its e-commerce portal business, Planetasia plans to set up a 100 per cent subsidiary. "The portal is currently in its conceptual stage and it will take anything between 6 to 8 months to become operational," Sudarshan said.

A team of 24 people are working on developing the portal at Planetasia's office premises in Bangalore.

Commenting on the Indian e-commerce and portal industry, he said, "without the introduction of secure payment gateways (SPGs), the country'se-commerce industry will not pick up. At present, three companies -- Equifax, Citibank and Global Telesystems -- are working towards developing technology for SPGs." The facility is expected to provide complete safety and security to a customer while undertaking transactions or buying on the Net. The SPGs would create a direct link between clients and the service provider. The facility includes technologies like secure socket layer, digital certification and secure electric transaction.

On the e-commerce industry in the US, Sudarshan said over 4 million host computer sites are visited by over 34 million people a day in the US. The volume of business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions is worth $50 billion in the States, he said. And by the year 2003, business-to-consumer transactions are expected to touch $103 billion while business-to-business on the Net would be worth $1.2 trillion, he added.

The Indian e-commerce sector is a dwarf compared to the US market, with a total turnover of Rs 12crore during 1998-99. During the current fiscal, the country's business-to-consumer segment is expected to grow to over Rs 50 crore.

Recently, Planetasia sold 26 per cent of its equity to Chase Capital Partners at $2.27 million. The foreign fund has picked up the equity through a private placement of 10.90 lakh fresh shares at a price of Rs 90 per share.After Chase's entry into the Microland family, the equity holding pattern of Planetasia has changed: Microland 35.14 per cent, Pradeep Kar and his employees 3.70 per cent, Chase Capital Partners 26.02 per cent and ICICI Venture Fund 35.14 per cent. Prior to the new development, Microland and ICICI held 47.05 per cent equity each and the rest five per cent was held jointly by Kar and his employees.