Today the e-Revolution is fast changing the way the business is done. The buzz word in the word business is e-Com, it is a business opportunity of over US$ 50 billion worldwide. According to Nasscom the e-Com business in India alone shall be of Rs. 10,000 crore, by the year 2002. There will be a demand for 1,00,000 e-Com trained manpower for meeting these target apart from 8,00,000 entry level jobs. Hence the career for an e-Com professional is highly rewarding & paying.

INDIAN SCENARIO

NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies), the apex body and Chamber of Commerce of India’s software-driven IT industry, had recently released findings of its survey to evaluate E-Commerce scenario in India. As per preliminary findings of the survey, the total volume of E-Commerce transactions in India was about Rs. 450 crore in the year 1999-2000. Out of this volume, about Rs. 50 crore were contributed by retail internet or Business-to-Consumer transactions, and about Rs. 400 crore was contributed by Business-to-Business transactions.

To some, Rs. 450 crore of E-Commerce transactions may seem to be negligible. But, to many of us, transactions may seem impressive with the background of almost non-existing regulatory framework that support E-Commerce in India. Thus, if the E-Commerce based businesses can emerge as viable propositions working within the confines of existing not-so-conducive framework, imagine the potential that would be unleashed once we have suitable and catalysing framework in place!, With the passing of the I.T. Bill in both Houses of Parliament, a legal regulatory structure is now in place and what is required is an effective enforcement.

The Nasscom survey also revealed that E-Business transactions in India are expected to reach Rs. 3500 crore during 2000-01. Out of this, about Rs. 300 crore could comprise of retail transactions and Rs 3200 crore of business-to-business transaction. But, with regulatory framework firmly in place; improvement in telecom infrastructure; increase in PC penetration could lead to Rs. 15,000 crore of E-Commerce transactions in India by 2001-2002. In keeping with global norms, it is expected that Business-to-Business transactions would continue to constitute a major chunk of E-Business transactions in India.

STUDY ON E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY (Extracts and Preliminary Highlights) For Business-to-Business transactions, Indian industries are expected to reach online penetration of 2% by 2003 and 8% by 2008. This would about one tenth of E-Commerce penetration in         Japanese industries during respective periods. Therefore, to understand the situation in India, Nasscom is presently conducting a comprehensive study on India’s potential for E-Commerce industry with the following points of reference: Understand and evaluate the present state of E-Commerce industry and market in India. Anticipate future potential of E-Commerce industry and market in India Identify present and potential global trends that are expected to define new paradigms of E-Commerce Scenario Analyse current internet access and penetration in India and evaluate potential threats.

The survey has revealed that the total volume of e-Commerce transactions in India were estimated at Rs. 450 crore in the year 1999-2000. Out of this volume, about Rs. 50 crore were contributed by retail internet or Business-to-Consumer transactions, and about Rs. 400 crore were contributed by Business-to-Business transactions. As per the survey, Nasscom expects E-Business transactions in India to exceed Rs. 3500 crore during 2000-01. Out of this, about Rs. 300 crore could comprise of retail transactions and 3200 crore of B2B transactions. In keeping with global norms, we expect Business-to-Business transactions to continue to constitute a major chunk of E-Business transactions in India. While there are perceived differences on what constitutes E-Commerce, Nasscom have taken special care to include only such transactions that lead to flow of electronic information concluding into an electronic transaction, or actual flow of material information construed as an electronic sale.

The survey has identified some of the business models for E-Business transactions through internet in India as:

# EDI and Intranets

# Theme based speciality stores

# Shopping Malls

# Domestic Search Portals (Increased focus on local content)

# Cyber Communities The real emerging opportunity is to provide software solutions    and services in E-Business areas in India.

Nasscom expects the market of providing E-Solutions i.e. software services for         E-Commerce, to fetch annual revenue of more than Rs 3,000 crore by 2002. For this, Nasscom is mounting a nationwide campaign to urge young professionals to start       E-Business software services units.