Mumbai: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have predicted an e-business revolution in India by 2005 when they expect the e-business to cross the Rs 55,000-crore mark. A study undertaken by PwC and CII also talks about investments of Rs 2,500 crore in setting up an e-business network in the country over the next two-to-three years. This would include investments by the government in e-governance. The study, covering 60 corporates, says in spite of the dotcom bust, 75 per cent of the corporates are veering towards the idea of doing business through the Internet.

The study points out that 25 per cent of the companies have lined up e-business investments of over Rs 10 crore. This is particularly true for those companies that did not invest in e-business merely for increasing valuation, but for the intrinsic value that the Net as a medium has to offer.

Investments made by top-layer companies in value-chain integration by using the Net for customer relationship management and supply chain management will result in major improvements in value creation and enhancement of shareholders value.

The companies will benefit in three ways: improvement in margins and cost reduction, improved sales and reduction in assets as outsourcing picks up, the study says.

The study has also pointed out some areas of concern. The investments made by many firms into e-business are stand-alone or ad hoc in nature. These companies are looking at small investments to see the results before committing large investments. To this extent, these companies are underinvesting. As many as 60 per cent of the companies investing in e-business fall in this category. The study expects more investments in the areas of e-CRM and e-SCM.