Players, procedures and problems

Private sector participation should be explored in e-developmental initiatives to ensure their
sustainability over the long run.
There are several B2B players. Satyam has developed an engine that can be used to develop
platforms for any industry. The biggest currently in operation is the steel industry TheSteelExchange,
auto companies, are coming together to form eax.com (auto exchange). Probably the biggest ‘internal
B2B’ player is Maruti, which already does a large part of their supply-chain side purchasing and
dealer-networking online.
Some other successful cases are: Hindustan Lever Ltd., General Motors and Godrej. The most
well known B2B e-commerce technology, such as i2 technology and CommerceOne, are yet to be
adopted by Indian corporates. These technologies are presently too expensive and may not result in any
return on investment due to lack of other infrastructure and services such as third party and fourth party
logistics in the country.
There is still a lot that the government can do, starting with resolving the inter-bank settlement
standards to enable online payments. Next could be to strengthen the telecom infrastructure (especially
in the last mile). Another important thing would be to recognize online contracts, which has now been
done in India.
Some of the barriers to e-commerce adoption in India include the following:
• Limited Internet access among customers and SMEs (current level of internet usage is low
among businesses and users)
• Poor telecom and infrastructure for reliable connectivity (Internet connectivity slow, access
costs are high and connections are unreliable)

• Multiple gaps in the current legal and regulatory framework
• Multiple issues of trust and lack of payment gateways (privacy of personal and business
data connected over the Internet not assured; security and confidentiality of data not in
place)