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Theme: RURAL MARKETS IN INDIA  Sub Theme:  Contribution and Perspective Role of I.T.  PAPER  INTRODUCTION:  A large number of studies have shown that even today approximately 70% of Indian Population lives in Rural Areas. Today, Rural Development is essential for the development of the Indian Economy. Indian Government has realized the role of the rural development and the contribution of I.T. in the development of Rural Markets. A large number of projects are introduced in the rural area with many upcoming projects in pipeline; which are likely to be introduced by the Government in the short span of time. Rural Literacy is ranked at the topmost position of priority. Trends indicate that rural markets are coming up in big way and growing twice as faster as urban markets. According to a study by NCAER (National Council for Applied Economic Research), the number of middle and high-income households in rural India is expected to grow from 80 Million to 111 Million by the end of year 2007 as compared to Urban India that is nearby 59 Million.   The Rural Market of India is showing an impressive growth largely due to changing lifestyle patterns, better communication network and rapidly changing demand structure of consumers of rural area. With the changing patterns of Rural Market, the role of I.T. has increased from providing only the Networks to set-up the basis of updated technological programs in the rural area. It is seen that the people living in the rural area have strong purchasing power and have more openness for new technology as compared to the past. Evidence of the increase in purchasing power can be drawn from the statement of Mr. D. Shivakumar (Business Head – Personal Product Division, Hindustan Unilever Limited) who said that the money available for spending on the FMCG by Rural India is 63,500 Cr., which is much more as compared to Urban India that spends the amount of approximately 49,500 Cr.   In Rural India, Government has already provided Info-kiosks (a rural version of cyber café) which provide basic communication facilities like internet connection and telecommunication services. Modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) were found to have great potential to contribute. The projects of Info- Kiosks are very popular in the region of Andra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujrat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madya Pradesh, Rajasthan Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh and have shown a positive response in the development of the rural area.      Government is taking serious steps for the development of the rural market, under which the activities related to the development of the rural infrastructure, subsidized food availability and rural employment schemes are at the priority. I.T. plays a major role in accurate implementing these developmental programs in the rural area. Government has set up various centers which are spreading the I.T. web in the rural area through which people can be benefited and exploit the resources available efficiently. I.T. AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT:  I.T. has varied applications in it, through which the development of the rural area can be possible accurately. Government had introduced a number of programs through which the people of rural India can come forward and use the I.T. enabled services and work more systematically. Some of the programs run by the Government are:  b E-Mitra:         This service is launched by the RAJASTHAN Government for the first time for its rural citizens, so that they can deploy the I.T. enabled benefits to its fullest. E- Mitra is State Government started projects, which soon become highly popular in the region. In year 2002, two projects came into existence namely; Lok Mitra and Jan Mitra .        Where Jan Mitra is an integrated electronic platform through which the citizens of Rajasthan can avail the benefit if getting the desired information regarding any Governmental Department at kiosks which is very near to there doorstep. These Initiative program of Rajasthan government have not only helped the Government by reducing the burden of attending every call, it has reduced the waiting time for the service and has lead to provide comfort to the citizens also, as with the inception of this service they can easily get the information required at their doorstep.       Lok Mitra is an urban electronic Governance Project which was launched in Jaipur city in year 2002, which helps the citizens of Jaipur (now other cities also) to pay their bills online (land, Water, Bus Tickets and BSNL) leading the citizen to save the waiting time. This service also ensures people that their money is going directly to the Government and provides a feeling of security related to their bills payment.  b Community Information Centers:        The program is designed especially for providing the internet access and I.T. Enabled services to the citizens through which the interface between the Government and the Citizens can be setup. These centers connect seven northeast states namely; Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mehalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The center helps to gain the connectivity at the time of unsuitable environmental conditions. The centers are commonly termed as CIC which are generally situated at the school, college or any governmental office. People can come for the Internet access, and for accessing the internet, a nominal amount is charged from the people through which the daily expenses of the centers are maintained.   b wi-fi Projects:        One of the wi-fi project under which few villages (of UTTAR PRADESH ) are connected to internet is Digital Gangetic Plan (DGP). Through the use of DGP wireless network connectivity is created, this program helped the people residing in villages of India to have the access of internet through which the information on various issues can be collected ad used, at the same time the people living in rural India can be updated with the new technological changes and the innovative changes taking place in the national and the international markets. For instance; Bimari Jankari is a portal through which the information regarding every disease and health related issues is available and Digital Mandi is available as one of the portals where all the information regarding the agricultural commodities are available. This portal provides the information regarding the prices of the commodities and their relative value.     b Drishtee:     Drishtee is present in 5 States and is currently available in six districts. It is a private company, which was previously named as Cyber Edge , which has the main work of developing the modules. It is present in Bihar, Haryana, Madya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. It is generally suited in the Panchayat or in the bazaars. They prepare the module for the poor section of the society who cannot understand the international language. The modules are designed for the rural and semi-urban areas especially.     b Gyandoot:       It was established in January in year 2000. It is an e-governance based module designed for the rural citizens. The project was initially initiated by the Government of MADHYA PRADESH . Gyandoot caters the need of the villagers by providing the information related to the prevailing rates of the agro-based commodities and the rate of land. Each Gyandoot Info kiosks caters to approximately 15 panchayats and 30 villages. The module is designed with the aim to provide cost effective and sustainable delivery model to the people.     b TARAhaat:      It was developed by an NGO (non-government organization); with the vision to bring internet facility to the rural India. It is a franchisee based business model that attempts to generate revenues by focusing on the marketing services through the module (especial focus on the local applications). It was initiated in the region of PUNJAB with the introduction of different centers called as Kendra’s which are connected to each other through the dial up internet connection facility. These Kendra’s have power backup also; in case, the electricity supply is interrupted. The info kiosks provide online and offline services information on education, prevailing opportunities in the market and other useful information for the villagers. TARAkendra’s are very popular in between the local population as it provides the information in the local language and the portal is designed in such a pattern that semi literate population can also understand it without any difficulty. Different services that TARAkendra’s provide are:             O TARABazar (for product information)             O TARAdhaba (for providing connectivity)             O TARAdak (connect to relatives at distance)             O TARAgyan (educate rural youth on various issues)             O TARAguru (helps in mentoring and consultancy)             O TARAvan (delivery of orders at remote areas)                        and many other services are also provided.                    b Rural e-seva:      It was initiated by ANDRA PRADESH Government. It was initially implemented in West Godavari District to deliver e-governance facility. The centers are designed with the view to provide better governance facilities to the people of the Rural India. The popularity of e-seva can be estimated from the fact that in the year 2003, more than 400 million rupees was collected only for the electricity payment. With the success of the e-seva in electricity bills payment, Government is looking forward for introducing it in the areas of collection of telephone bills and local Governmental Bills. E-seva is gaining popularity with passing days as it helps the citizens to avail the benefit of getting the certificates at their doorsteps; which is both relaxing and reliable.  b Bhoomi:      The KARNATAKA Government for maintaining the records related to the land introduced it. The Department of Revenue in Karnataka has computerized 20 million records of land ownership belonging to 6.7 million farmers of the state. With the introduction of the program, the farmers are free from giving the bribe and are protected from the harassment. Framers can easily get the Records of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC) by depositing a minimal fee of Rs. 15.     National Informatics Centers (NIC) through which the software online copies of the land records are available developed the software of Bhoomi. By giving an online request, farmers get an online enrollment number through which further processing can be done. In the software, the connectivity is through the LAN through which all the clients are connected to the hubs.    With the increasing popularity of the project, Government of India has decided to introduce the project in other parts of the country also, namely: Kerala, West Bengal, Sikkim, Tripura, Punjab, Haryana, Madya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Gujrat, Assam, Orrisa, Rajasthan and Pondicherry.   b e-choupal:      It is designed especially for the farmers of India . Through e-choupal, farmers who are living in the remote area of the country and cannot manage to have direct contact with the consumer can come forward to have a direct contact. It provides an e-procurement system through which the farmers can access the latest and updated information (local, national and international) related to different farming practices. It provides real time information and customized knowledge to the farmers through which the farmer can take better decisions and can have direct contact with the customer, reducing the amount wasted by moving through the distribution channel of intermediary.         E-choupal has already become the largest initiative among all internet-based interventions in Rural India. E-choupal is present in 36,000 villages through nearly 6,000 kiosks across nine states. ITC (Indian Tobacco Company) is planning to expand the concept of e-choupal further in 15 states of India.                 b Aksh:         It is mostly active in Northern India , it is a fiber optic cable company with its core competence in lay down and maintenance if cable. Aksh has the license to lay down the cables in the rural areas. It initially has collaborated with Drishtee for maintenance of kiosks, but with the changing times; Drishtee and Aksh have separated in different service offerings. While Urban Area has witnessed a penetration of cable T.V., rural areas have left un-served. The fact behind the low level of cable T.V. proportion in rural as compared to urban area is due to the fact that in rural area there are a limited number of houses which can afford cable T.V. The bandwidth delivered by Aksh supports a large variety of services (including video interactions) which will lead to increase the level information exchange in between the people living in several areas of rural India.  b n-Logue         N-Logue is activated in South India and due to its advantages is entering into the northern areas. The main impetus came from IIT -Chennai . It is a non-profit organization with the responsibility of providing rural IT based services (including hardware and software) through connectivity and application all around the rural area. It is functional with WLL Technology whose construction and maintenance is costly and the connectivity is also limited to a certain area, but has the facility of providing connectivity with a range of services as it provides the voice call facility and overcome the problem of dial up connection errors. N-Logue is further supported by IIT-Chennai, which prepares a variety of local language software for it in short time for convenience and comfort. It has also added the facility of web-cam through which the remote diagnosis of various problems can be done. Tamil Nadu Government has supported the functions of n-Logue (especially in its Madurai and Nellikuppam district). N-Logue charges for connectivity and is relatively popular in the southern region due to its easy connectivity functioning and training of handling the applications.         INCLINATION OF SECTORS TOWARDS RURAL INDIA:      Income generation from Rural India has increased dramatically from past few years. Trends have witnessed twice growth rate of the rural market as compared to the urban markets. According to a McKinsey survey conducted in year 2007, Rural India, with a population of 627 million, (approximately 74.3 per cent of the total population), would become bigger than the total consumer market in countries such as South Korea or Canada in another twenty years. Moreover, it would grow almost four times from its existing size in 2007, which was estimated at US$ 577 billion. Several sectors are showing their inclination towards the rural market area due to the increased possibility of opportunities.                  1. FMCG According to Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the number of rural households using fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) products has grown from 136 million in 2004 to 143 million in 2007. In a report by market research firm AC Nielsen, in April-May 2008, it was observed that rural market has shown a rapid rate of growth. The FMCG sector in rural areas is projected to grow by 40 per cent against the 25 per cent growth in urban areas.      2. Insurance According to a report, ‘Insurance in Next 2 Years’, by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), in May 2008 , the insurance sector size was estimated at US$ 12.8 billion, and it is likely to see an unprecedented growth of 200 per cent, touching US$ 51.2 billion by 2009-10. Rural India may offer a business opportunity worth US$ 23 billion for the insurance companies if the segment can be wooed with innovative saving schemes at affordable premiums  3. Retail According to a study, conducted in September 2007 , by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on the Indian rural retail sector, opportunities in Rural Retail were estimated to be over US$ 34 billion in year 2007. This figure is expected to touch US$ 43 billion in 2010 and go up to US$ 58 billion by 2015. The rural markets in 2008 have grown at 25 per cent compared to the 7-10 per cent growth rate of the urban consumer retail market.   4. Automobiles The Indian Automotive Industry currently has a turnover of US$ 34 billion. However, the automobile market remains untapped in rural India that has a strong purchasing power. Nearly 50 per cent of the Indian rural market, which includes 220 million households, is potential car buyers. Two-wheeler penetration in rural belts is still very low with less than 10 per cent households owning a two-wheeler.  5. Pharmaceuticals The Indian Pharmaceuticals Market is regarded as one of the fastest growing in the world. In 2006-07, this market was valued at over US$ 7 billion with the rural segment having a remarkable share of this market. Industry estimates observed that while small towns contribute 20 per cent to the country’s pharmaceuticals market, rural areas account for 21 per cent. In 2006-07, the rural Indian market was estimated at around US$ 1.4 billion, having grown at about 40 per cent in 2006-07 against 21 per cent in the previous year.   6. Consumer durables A survey carried out by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( FICCI ), indicated that the consumer durable goods sector is all set to witness 12 per cent growth in 2008. The rural market is growing faster than the urban markets, although the penetration level in rural area is much lower. The rural Indian market, which accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the total number of households, witnessed a 25 per cent annual growth while the urban consumer durables market reflected an annual rate of 7 to 10 per cent.                                                 * Source: IBEF Report, August 21, 2008  CONCLUSION:  The face of Indian rural market can be transformed only with the deployment of I.T. The paper has provided the brief description of the various services offered in the rural areas of different states of India and simultaneously the advantages these services have. All the services have difference in degree of connectivity, level of service offered and basic organizational structure. It is clearly seen that the range of I.T. enabled service proportion is increasing at a rapid rate in the rural areas of India. The fact behind it is the increasing interest of the organizations (profitable and non-profitable) to capture the rural markets and the increasing level of the education and market interface of the rural people. I.T. enabled services are growing at a fast rate and are providing several services to rural people with the common motive of having increase in the connectivity and thus creation of bigger market in the rural areas.   The increase in the services provided to the rural people (in terms of various services offered) will result in the overall betterment of the society on one side by enriching the people with updated market information and providing latest technological developmental news and organizations on other side by creating more market opportunities for them and adjustment of the market prices.   For development of the rural areas proper development of the IT Communication and Infrastructural services are essential along with the utilization of the fiber optic networks. I.T. services need to be developed in reference to the present rural infrastructure. Internet based services blended with customer support services should be provided in the rural areas, which can increase the acceptance rate of the services by the rural people.    Retrieved from “http://www.articlesbase.com/information-technology-articles/perspective-role-and-contribution-of-information-technology-in-rural-markets-in-india-786063.html” Continue reading →