Tata-SAIL joint venture to help rural Bengal shop online
Straightline.in, the e-shop of Mjunction Services, a Tata Steel-SAIL joint venture, is set to offer people living in rural and semi-urban areas in West Bengal opportunities to buy an array of products online directly from manufacturers.
By TNN |
KOLKATA: People living in rural and semi-urban areas in West Bengal are soon going to get a spread of products at the click of a mouse. Straightline.in, the e-shop of Mjunction Services, a Tata Steel-SAIL joint venture, is set to offer them opportunities to buy an array of products online directly from manufacturers.
To provide the facility, straightline.in has forged a partnership with Gramin Sanchar Society, commonly known as Grasso. The purpose behind the partnership is to take advantage of services of Grasso’s more than 200 community information and service centres (CISC), which being spread across the state, are already offering rural people a host of e-services including rural telephony, mobile banking and information on agriculture.
As these CISCs have direct access to people in those areas, these centres have been chosen by the e-shop as an ideal platform to reach out to people and draw them into e-commerce. The people will get various products directly from manufacturers at competitive prices and with assured delivery of the ordered products.
The service on B2B transactions in rural and semi-urban areas of the state is slated to kick-start next week, said Viresh Oberoi, managing director, Mjunction Services. Addressing the media on Tuesday, Mr Oberoi said for starters, the e-commerce facility is to be rolled out on a pilot basis at six CISCs located at Amtala, Ramnagar, Bagnan, Shyampur, Panskura and Baruipur.
The e-retailing will kick off with products like construction materials such as TMT bars, manufactured by SAIL and Ramswarup Industries, pipes by Tata Pipes, cement by Lafarge, paints by Berger Paints and storage and PVC tanks produced by Patton Tanks.
Thereafter, straightline.in plans to add four districts each quarter till the entire state of West Bengal and Sikkim are covered. As per the plan, the e-commerce network is expected to be put in place throughout West Bengal and Sikkim by end-2009, said Mr Oberoi.
Farm inputs like seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and agricultural implements have been lined up as the next products for e-transaction. These are to be followed by electronic appliances, fabrication products and consumer goods.
Along with marketing of quality products produced by large corporate houses, the e-commerce facility is to be extended to market local products also. Plans are afoot to introduce online trading of flour which is to be procured from Bagnan, agricultural tools being made by local artisans of Amtala and rexine and jute bags which are to be sourced from local producers in Bally in the first phase, said Mr Oberoi.
Since its launch in 2006 till date, straightline.in has been conducting online sales of steel and other branded products to urban consumers.
To provide the facility, straightline.in has forged a partnership with Gramin Sanchar Society, commonly known as Grasso. The purpose behind the partnership is to take advantage of services of Grasso’s more than 200 community information and service centres (CISC), which being spread across the state, are already offering rural people a host of e-services including rural telephony, mobile banking and information on agriculture.
As these CISCs have direct access to people in those areas, these centres have been chosen by the e-shop as an ideal platform to reach out to people and draw them into e-commerce. The people will get various products directly from manufacturers at competitive prices and with assured delivery of the ordered products.
The service on B2B transactions in rural and semi-urban areas of the state is slated to kick-start next week, said Viresh Oberoi, managing director, Mjunction Services. Addressing the media on Tuesday, Mr Oberoi said for starters, the e-commerce facility is to be rolled out on a pilot basis at six CISCs located at Amtala, Ramnagar, Bagnan, Shyampur, Panskura and Baruipur.
The e-retailing will kick off with products like construction materials such as TMT bars, manufactured by SAIL and Ramswarup Industries, pipes by Tata Pipes, cement by Lafarge, paints by Berger Paints and storage and PVC tanks produced by Patton Tanks.
Thereafter, straightline.in plans to add four districts each quarter till the entire state of West Bengal and Sikkim are covered. As per the plan, the e-commerce network is expected to be put in place throughout West Bengal and Sikkim by end-2009, said Mr Oberoi.
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Farm inputs like seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and agricultural implements have been lined up as the next products for e-transaction. These are to be followed by electronic appliances, fabrication products and consumer goods.
Along with marketing of quality products produced by large corporate houses, the e-commerce facility is to be extended to market local products also. Plans are afoot to introduce online trading of flour which is to be procured from Bagnan, agricultural tools being made by local artisans of Amtala and rexine and jute bags which are to be sourced from local producers in Bally in the first phase, said Mr Oberoi.
Since its launch in 2006 till date, straightline.in has been conducting online sales of steel and other branded products to urban consumers.
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