September 25, 2001

Internet In India – An Infotech Tiger!
By Abhijit Dharmadhikari

It has not been a long time since Internet was introduced to the world. It was in the early 1980’s that the power of the Internet became obvious. Today, the Internet can be accessed by nearly every country in the world.  This fact  lends a new and challenging dimension to the field of electronic communication and information media. The Internet is the ultimate source of information, and as we all know, information is power!

When and how did Internet begin in India?

In 1987 the ERNET (Education and Research Network) launched the first Internet services in India and that was the time to say, “NET, SET AND GO!” 

ERNET was a joint project of the Department of Electronics of the Government of India, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). UNDP is the organization that provides technical assistance to developing nations. However, in the beginning, those Internet services were not available to the public; as they were meant only for educational and research institutions in India. This was just a beginning. Who knew, or could even imagine what changes the next century would bring? There was lot more to come very soon!

It was a promisingly optimistic vision of the former Prime Minister of India,  the late Hon. Mr. Rajeev Gandhi, to see India enriched with the latest technology in the world. He dreamed and talked about having a computer and the Internet in each and every home in India. His vision and constructive actions set the ball rolling.

The Software Technology Parks of India and National Informatics Center opened the avenues to software exporting companies and government agencies. On August 15, 1995 Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL),  India’s International Trunk Carrier and Gateway to the world, launched the Gateway Internet Access Service (GIAS) on a commercial basis in India. This was just the awakening of a sleeping infotech giant – India!

The Internet storm had finally arrived in India. It all began when the ISP policy was liberalized on November 6, 1998. Today it is very inspiring to look back at what those early days were like and see how far we’ve come . . . 1.8 million Internet users, more than 10 national ISPs, many regional ISPs, and more than 100 city-based ISPs successfully operating in the country. These statistics increase daily.

A web of Intranets and extranets has spread all over the country. This success is due to liberalized ISP policy, incredible efforts of the National IT Task Force and Indian Internet Professionals. Today, India has more software companies with ISO 9000 certification than any other country in the world and this is certainly a matter of pride! 

The latest storm is a Cyber Cafe culture! Metro cities and towns are crowded with Cyber Café outlets. The National ISP, VSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL), have offered special rates and benefits to Cyber Café outlets so that people who still do not have PC’s can seek information and communicate with the world. Today Indians can even communicate through their respective native languages via e-mail. 

As recently as a year ago, the consumer often had to wait for about 6 months to get the telephone line sanctioned. Things have changed. Now, folks can get the telephone line connection within 7 to 10 days. Very soon all the telephone exchanges will provide fiber optic telephone lines.

From the beginning of ERNET about a decade ago to a widespread private ISPs today, the growth of the Internet in India has proven to be a miraculous development. In the areas ranging from financial institutes/organizations to news publishing, commerce to tourism, education to entertainment, the Net is bringing dramatically positive changes in a day to day life of Indian Netizens.

The current Prime Minister, Hon. Mr. Atalbihari Bajpayee has ensured having a PC in every village. Nearly all the states in India have their official web sites, promoting information about land, real estate, birth and death data, culture and activities like education, rural development, taxation, e-commerce, health and medicine, tourism, industry and agriculture etc. Some of the states are introducing mega projects of Public Access Internet Community Centers with World-Tel. India’s Commerce Ministry has assigned several institutions/organizations for coordinated implementation, such as Customs, Nationalized Banks, Foreign Trade related institutions etc.

The Prime Minister’s Task Force on Information Technology and Software Development plans to promote IT to create a million jobs in the next five years and increase the annual software exports to $ 50 billion by 2008. This is certainly going to be a big boon to the Indian economy.

Please join with me in encouraging more and more Indian ISPs and websites come out with flying colors in the nearest future!

Abhijit Dharmadhikari