Aptech is setting up a virtual campus on the internet, that will be ready by January 2000. While Wipro will be hosting the site, the technology will be based on Lotus tools, Khera said.

A team of 40 software developers are working on the project right now. Khera added that very soon some selected students will be allowed to undergo online courses to do a pilot testing of the website in December.

Aptech trained 2.72 lakh students in 1998. Khera said, "we have introduced a Web-ROM technology for online training. The courses that will be popular on the internet might be short-term courses and total revenues could be lower."Aptech had recorded a turnover of Rs 250 crore in 1998 and is aiming at reaching a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore by 2002.

In the US, the fees for online courses arehigher than those for regular courses. "In an online course we have to put in more effort to deliver the course to the student. However, these are still evolving issues," Khera added.

Another issue that is also evolving is that of conducting tests. Khera said "how do you ensure that the candidate himself is sitting for the test, in case of online testing?"

There are two alternatives being considered. Either students can go to one of the Sylvan prometric testing centres and take a test. Otherwise, they can take the test from any of the Aptech centres.

There is also the plan of offering a certificate of participation for students who are interested in acquiring the knowledge only. "There are professionals who just want to develop themselves and acquire new skills," Khera pointed out.

The payments for the courses will be through credit cards for overseas students. Khera said, "in India students can always drop in at any of the Aptech centres to pay. However, I hope the relevant Act will be passed byParliament by the time we start the course." The international market can be divided into training and education sectors. According to Khera, the training segment that caters to corporates and professionals is worth $27 billion worldwide.