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The rural e-commerce model aims to connect large number of villages around each other. This is essential to spread the cost to a larger base. Also, as benefits accrue to a larger base, there will be a greater aggregate demand for the services and goods that rural e-commerce model will generate.

A common rural portal and the new services to support this model are discussed at length. The same portal will have login access for villagers, corporation, as well as urban individuals. The portal will have applications like rural yellow pages, microfinance accounts, rural economic news, and information about markets to sell rural produce, tele-medicine, distance education and rural chat-room.

Finally, the revenue / benefit model is discussed and roles of public-private partnerships are defined

1. Introduction

Rural-urban disparities have for long been one of the causes of concern for policy-makers. Disparities are seen in all spheres, be it economic or non-economic. The long colonial rule in India created the urban-rural divide. However, what causes concern is the sharp increase in the level of disparities even after decades of planning, especially because planning was conceived as an instrument to narrow down rural-urban disparities.

Rural India encompasses a little less than three-fourths of the country's population and is characterized by low-income levels, poor quality of life and a weak base of human development. Agriculture is the main source of income in rural India. It supports roughly two-thirds of the workforce.

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* Contributed by -
Rohit Garg,
Final Year, PGDM,
S. P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai.