B-PLAN: e-SMART VILLAGES

Team IdeasRUs
-

Sidhhant Khadke
Sumit Kawalkar
Khanjan Shah

1. Introduction:
Of Indias 610 districts, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has a list of 200
backward districts. Similarly, out of Indias 600,000 villages, around 125,000 are truly
backward. There are 78 regions in the country, as per the NSS (National Sample Survey)
classification. Based on these regions, the World Bank (2004) identifies 18 regions where
human development is low. Currently, there is lot of public spending to improve the
infrastructure, water and sanitation in these areas. The Socio- economic dualism in Indian
economy is tackled by the Government by taking responsibility for uplifting the rural and the
economically poorer sections. The Government does this by giving subsidies, loan waivers,
and quota systems in educational institutions, jobs and offering several other schemes based
on caste and profession. All these efforts are disparate, fragmented and piecemeal efforts and
not much improvement has been achieved in most of the villages. On the other hand, the
villages themselves are a powerhouse of large pool of man power. As we perceive there is a
huge scope for the villages to be self sufficient and sustainable on their own.

In recent times, there is an immense interest in the development of Smart Cities. But as we
perceive, in the Indian context, villages are the heart of the nation. Hence, for the
development to percolate to the grass root level, focus must be devoted to the progress of
villages. In spite of a large scale migration of people from rural to urban areas, which is
increasing the burden and posing a huge threat to the cities, still there are some villages
which are thickly populated. The main aim is to smarten the villages using advanced
wireless, IT and E-commerce to achieve self sustainability. This is the backdrop of our
interest for this B-Plan which goes in line with the vision of Mahatma Gandhi The best,
quickest and most efficient way is to build up from the bottom. Every village has to become a
self-sufficient republic. This does not require brave resolutions. It requires brave, corporate,
intelligent work.

1.1

Business Plan:
Strategies Involved

Cities which are located near the respective villages are targeted. The Transportation cost
platform to the distributors to get the raw material from our targeted villages.

We will provide information the villagers regarding the wastage use. Make them aware
about storing dry wastage and wet wastage differently. After that we will promote our
registered distributors to reach these villages and collect the wastages for the further
process.
Villagers will get income from these processes.

Platform to sell the briquettes to the manufacturing firm through e-commerce

We will make Market Place Ecommerce model in which we will register these
distributors and a rental fees will be taken from these distributors. In start we will provide
them free 3 months registration fees. Then will apply 20,000 per year rent for
registration. Data base of the manufacturers which are the customers are collected from
distributors and Expansion of customer base is done by market research.

1.2

Village Model
- Setting up 1 computer centre in each village
- Farmers: They used to travel to cities from villages to buy fertilizers and other
utilities. Few shops are there in villages but they dont have varieties.
- The computer centre will help them to purchase those from e-commerce where we
will use B2C Market Place model.
- The model will involve the whole-sellers or direct manufactures to provide the
material.

Competitive Advantage:

We are targeting untapped market of transforming village into smart village by providing
design and final consultation to Government.

1.3

Barriers to Entry:

As the work involves lot of Government support and intervention, there is possibility of
many bureaucracy hurdles while initial set up and reluctance for change by concerned parties
due to unawareness.

1.4

Funding Requirement:

Initially we are planning to set up our operation in 3 villages and gradually increase our
reach. This will require setting up a regional office for coordination as well as center in each
village. Initial cost involved here would be rent and equipments for regional office and staff
as well as computer center in villages. Considering all the cost involved here, we could set up
our business with initial funding of 500000 Rs.

2. The Market Analysis:

2.1

Market Segmentation:
a. City: Manufacturing firms those are looking for sustainable initiatives
b. Village: Villagers and Farmers.

2.2

Size:
a. City: In a city, there are different types of manufacturers and those are classified as
OEM, SMEs. Our target is OEM and tier 1 firm because they have the potential and
capital to the system sustainable.
b. Villages: Of Indias 610 districts, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has
a list of 200 backward districts. Similarly, out of Indias 600,000 villages, around
125,000 are truly backward, as per the NSS (National Sample Survey) classification.

2.3

Target Market Segment Strategy:

a. City: The manufacturing firms will be targeted through 2 methods: First is old
fashioned networking using social contacts and second is through promotions.
b. Villages: Villagers will be targeted through mass awareness campaigns and
workshops explaining the importance of E-commerce portal.

2.4

Customers/Distributors for the City Model:

According to our market survey we found few of these potential distributors

2.5

JK Automation (www.jkautomationindia.com) Pune

Somtech Engineers (www.somtechengineers.com) Pune

Shriram Urja (www.shriramurja.com) Nagpur

Sanraa Global Green Energy Limited (www.sarabioproducts.com) Chennai

Opportunity:

The plan if implemented in entire country will cover 70% of the entire population
residing in rural areas. As currently there are no competitors in the same business line,
with appropriate support from government, company can project huge growth and market
potential.
2.6

Threat:
Already established E-commerce market place may want to enter the targeted market
segment and gain advantage of their already established brand name and financial
backing.

3. The Financial Analysis:

For the first year of business, the financial analysis is as shown in the following table:
Months Investment
1
2
3

40,000

Monthly
Expense
20,000
20,000
20,000

20,000

5
6
7
8
9

20,000
20,000
20,000
20,000
20,000

10

20,000

11
12

20,000
20,000
Revenue

Registration
fees
0
0
0
20000*10 =
200000

20000*10 =
200000

4,00,000

Overall
expense
40000
20000
20000

-60000
-20000
-20000

20000

180000

20000
20000
20000
20000
20000

-20000
-20000
-20000
-20000
-20000

20000

180000

20000
20000

-20000
-20000
120000
1,20,000

Profit

Profit

The Next year revenue can be forecasted on the basis of above data by taking following
assumptions,
1. Increase no. of distributors to 3 times.
2. Increase rental amount to 1.5 times.
Revenue next year = Current Revenue * Rental Factor * New No. of Distributors
= 4,00,000 * 1.5 * 3
= 18,00,000 INR
By this way we can forecast the next few years of business plan by taking same
multiplication factors.