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

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Synopsis

The first and foremost reason for rural growth is to reduce the ever-growing urban-rural divide. Till date, the onus of rural growth was on Government and NGOs. However, saturation of urban markets has forced the corporations to seriously look at 178 million poor households, which has a combined $378 billion in income.

A SWOT analysis of rural India and growing e-commerce in India throws up a host of opportunities. However, to make use of opportunities, the weaknesses such as low rural tele-density, low Internet penetration, lack of finance to buy computers, irregular / absent power supply and illiteracy needs to be tackled.

Access to microfinance, distribution system designed around Internet, low cost & low powered hand-held Simputer (an indigenously developed hand-held computer), distance education using a mix of television & Internet, micro hydro-electric power plants are identified as doable, sustainable and replicable solutions.

Using real life examples from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Dominican Republic and South Africa, a rural e-commerce model is suggested. As per the suggested rural e-commerce model, banks will provide microfinance to self-help groups of villagers (SHG). These SHGs will be formed with the help of NGOs. Using microfinance, SHGs can buy low cost Simputer and share a telephone connection between them.

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