AuctionIndia.com set for cash break-even

By K. T. Jagannathan

CHENNAI, JULY 26. For the first time, toddy and arrack shops are auctioned online, thanks to auctionindia.com, a portal owned by a TVS group company.

The auction in the Union Territory of Pondicherry has seen nearly 89 shops allotted to those who have bid through the Internet. Thus far, 300 shops have been auctioned in the Union Territory. The shops have reportedly fetched 10 per cent higher revenue per shop on an average when compared with the physical auction.

According to Mr. Mani P. Sam, Executive Vice-President, AuctionIndia.com Pvt. Ltd., which runs the portal, the very decision of the Pondicherry Government to go in for an online auction has forced many arrack and toddy shop owners to avoid unhealthy practices and renew their licences paying 16 per cent more on an average.

The online sale has not only fetched increased revenue for the exchequer but has seen the elimination of all unhealthy business practices and pressures that usually precede auctioning of arrack and liquor shops in any State. Though the portal has earned just a couple of lakhs for facilitating the online auction, Mr. Sam feels that the successful completion of the auction will help the portal add more corporate clients.

In fact, the portal has been able to attract a Tamil Nadu Government undertaking - Metropolitan Transport Corporation - to use the site regularly for disposing of scrap material. At present, a truck major is using the site to procure paints of varied kind. A public sector enterprise is using the portal to dispose of the assets of a closed facility.

The portal, according to Mr. Sam, is clocking a revenue (web site service charge) of close to Rs. 12 lakhs a month. It may be recalled that TVS Finance Auction India Private Ltd. bought the B2B auction portal from Cyber Commerce in February last. The latter is a subsidiary of San Jose-based Cybernet Software Systems. The portal property was subsequently transferred to a newly floated Auction India Private Ltd.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Business
Previous : Pentamedia Graphics turnover increases