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This Paper has won Consolation Prize in the CoolAvenues' Paper-writing Competition - "In Search of Excellence" - for the Year 2005.

Synopsis

The starting point of E-commerce is "people". E-commerce helps in making the life of the people more comfortable and easier by reducing the high cost structures prevailing in the economy. The paper titled Using E-commerce to Fuel Rural Growth in India starts with an outline of the current rural economy, by analyzing its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
It discusses the role of E-commerce in bridging the digital divide of the rural economy. The significance of E-commerce in aggregation, integration, dis-intermediation and re-intermediation are dealt in the paper. The key issues, affordability and localization that need to be addressed in the implementation of E-commerce are given. To deal with the rural re-juvenation, a comparative study on rural marketing that has been aggressively promoted by two major corporate giants, namely, ITC's e-Choupal and HLL's Project Shakti, is analyzed in the paper. The cost incurred by the farmer before and after the introduction of e-choupal is also discussed. To fuel the rural growth, a special portal has been stressed upon. A sketch of a model portal and its essence has been elucidated. India is noted for its arts and crafts. The paper discusses about the importance of E-commerce in placing the nation's valuable art and craft products at the global market. Any use of technology or its allied products can be fully utilized only when the purchasing power of the people is improved. Thus, E-commerce with good network and infrastructure will enhance the purchasing power of the rural people and fuel the rural growth.

"To see the world in a grain of sand,
And heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour."

- William Blake

Introduction

Since the Internet technology made its debut, thousands upon thousands of new companies have come into existence and are trading goods and services electronically. The e-commerce business could take the shape of the business to consumer directly (B2C) or one business to another. E-commerce has made heavy inroads due to the rapid developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

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* Contributed by -
Krithika R. & Thiruvathal M.,
MBA - II Year,
Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai.