The proposed portal will act as e-mediary for the industrial units in AP by providing relevant information suitable for the buyers and sellers creating a new market place, Mr DM Rao told the press persons here on Saturday. The portal site is been formally launched here at Hyderabad.

Besides on-line content about the district-wise industrial information, the portal site will also enable the subscribers to process e-commerce services, Mr Rao said.

The company proposed to have at least 3,000 subscribers in the first year of operation, from out of 30,000 SMEs in the state, he added. Explaining the revenue model for the portal, Mr Rao said that the model consist of transaction fee, value-added services such as consultancy, classifieds and advertisements in addition to the registration fee. Each member will have to pay Rs 1,500 per annum for which a home page will be developed for the use of the member, Mr Rao said.

Mr Anand Sanghi CEO of Idika Solutions, the technology partners in the project, said the concept can be extended to other states once this is successful here. He said that his company will maintain the portal with updating the content from time to time.