RURAL MARKETS IN INDIA
INTRODUCTION: The Rural Market of India is showing an impressive growth largely due to changing lifestyle patterns, better communication network and rapidly changing demand structure of consumers of rural area. With the changing patterns of Rural Market, the role of I.T. has increased from providing only the Networks to set-up the basis of updated technological programs in the rural area. It is seen that the people living in the rural area have strong purchasing power and have more openness for new technology as compared to the past. Evidence of the increase in purchasing power can be drawn from the statement of Mr. D. Shivakumar (Business Head - Personal Product Division, Hindustan Unilever Limited) who said that the money available for spending on the FMCG by Rural India is 63,500 Cr., which is much more as compared to Urban India that spends the amount of approximately 49,500 Cr.
In Rural India, Government has already provided Info-kiosks (a rural version of cyber café) which provide basic communication facilities like internet connection and telecommunication services. Modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICT's) were found to have great potential to contribute. The projects of Info- Kiosks are very popular in the region of Andra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujrat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madya Pradesh, Rajasthan Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh and have shown a positive response in the development of the rural area.