... But Its Hangover May Spill Over
This refers to your cover story on the e-commerce industry (The Party Is Over, April 24). The early growth and now expected fall of the e-commerce sector reminds me of the sad plight of the character from the famous nursery rhyme on Humpty Dumpty. So, my version of the rhyme goes here as: E-commerce, E-business climbed up the wall/ E-commerce, E-business has a great fall!/ All the great founders and all the biz men/ Can they put it together on the Pedestal again?
Experts feel that the four key areas needed to elevate the e-commerce sector to its initial glory are: a) creating an impact through a well designed digital ecosystem, b) interacting with customers in local/vernacular languages, c) use of latest techniques of predictive analysis, d) better or value-added transaction experiences for its customers. One more concern will be the financial supply chain and refund mechanism. To a great extent, perhaps banks can think of collaborating with e-commerce logistics partners in strengthening the financial supply chain resulting in faster collection and entry of cash in the banking system as well as efficient technology integration for prompt disbursal to marketplaces and to the sellers. Some forecasts suggest that the mobile wallet market in India is expected to reach around $6.6 billion by 2020. This indicates that there is a need for greater adoption of wallets as a simplified and secure digital payment option. The party may be getting over, but its hangover will most likely spill over from 2016 to 2017/18. Let's wait and watch how things unfold. - J.S. Broca, New Delhi
Chambers Is a True Champion
This refers to the interview of John T. Chambers of Cisco (Create the right environment for start-ups, April 24). It was a wonderful discussion with Chambers about the organic growth of Cisco and its extensive services through its core business channels, which met the needs of India. To his credit, now many communication and IT firms in India have attained high quality status deploying Cisco-trained candidates. Cisco was to fall into a pit of bankruptcy then but now it has a solution wing to troubleshoot bankruptcy issues of the firms. Chambers is thus truly a champion of IT and ITES industry. His appeal for promotion of conducive conditions for start-ups must be seriously viewed by the Centre. Chambers's exposure as a venture capitalist through Cisco's Indian initiatives means he understands the country's needs well. The government must take suggestions from people of Chamber's stature seriously if it wants to make programmes like Digital India a success. Cisco's investment plans will definitely help the India growth story. Meanwhile, the Indian telecom policy must be reformulated by the Modi government. Throwing open high-speed Internet highways nationally at economical cost and giving free access to Wi-Fi substantially across the nation in association with the private sector will definitely prevent exploitation by Facebook and its ilk. - B. Rajasekaran, Bangalore
Making a Mockery of the Entire Process
This refers to your article on Kingfisher Airlines (Chasing Vijay Mallya, April 24). Liquor baron Vijay Mallya has been in the news for quite some time now. He owns Rs 9,000 crore to the banking system. He has also been declared as a wilful defaulter by banks. The Supreme Court's notice to Mallya to disclose all assets owned by him and his family in India and abroad and also deposit a substantial amount is a right step forward. We'll soon know how serious Mallya is towards meeting his obligations. Let Mallya know that he cannot dictate terms to the investigating agencies, Supreme Court and banks, and send a wrong message to the system. Well, if he is really concerned about his credibility, then why he is not coming back to India for settlement of the dues across the table? - Srinivasan Umashankar, Nagpur
Send all your comments to: editor.bt@intoday.com