Virtual trade fair -- indiamarkets.com to host month-long fair in March
 

indiamarkets.com will be organising a mega virtual trade fair from March 1 to March 31, 2001. "It will be the largest exposition of its kind to be hosted in India. Categories will include engineering, electrical, electronics, health and pharmaceuticals, jewels, IT online, to name a few. It comes with the advantage of a real on-ground exhibition without the trouble of putting up stalls and hiring staff," said Mr Vikas Mohan, business development manager, indiamarkets.com.

indiamarkets.com, which is Indias' first B2B infomediary, is a one stop market-place that allows buyers and sellers from within the country and around the world to transact business online. The site offers a gateway to promote business between potential partners by opening up new vistas to reach out to corporates and buyers, otherwise inaccessible. "The site has a user-base of almost 42,000 across 29 verticals and more than 150 product categories. The user-base is likely to cross the one lakh mark by the end of March," said Mr Mohan.

The aggregation of verticals includes, among others, auto ancillary, chemicals, construction, telecom, iron and steel products, computers and paints and dyes. Intermediation provides an interactive platform to buyers and sellers of products, used machinery and even surplus inventory.

"A new idea from indiamarkets.com is e-business centres, located at key industrial towns across the country.
These centres, which provide the required brick-and-mortar platform to corporates seeking to showcase their products, are also equipped with facilities that include work-stations and discussion rooms. "Presently, we have 27 working centres. However, by the end of March, the number is likely to increase to 70,"said Mr Viney Tandon, sales manager, indiamarkets.com. "The portal also offers a comprehensive Web-enabled business solution for manufacturers to buy and sell more effectively. The aim is to provide the Indian enterprise with e-business solutions that can be integrated with existing business practices," said Mr Anurag Dutt of indiamarkets.com. `Catalogue' is a new business solution that describes the profile, product range, business network and the USP of a particular company for empowering its business by generating enquiries from around the world.

The Web-enabled business solution includes e-buy and e-sell, which helps in procurement and disposal of products. "Major players like Compaq, Cerebra Technologies, Citibank, The Associates and a host of others are advertising on our site because of the huge traffic it generates," he said. The portal has a tie-up with Dun and Bradstreet India, which is a global leader in the provision of commercial credit, marketing and purchasing information. "The purpose is to provide the users with a D-U-N-S (Data Universal Numbering System) Number, which certifies that you are a genuine player on the Net," he said. In the near future, the site might be hosted on one of the world's biggest B2B portals, for generating more export enquiries relating to Indian manufacturers. indiamarkets.com has been rated as the number one B2B site of India in a study conducted by Business Barons.