Elaborating, he said that this would come from selling time on the channel to sponsors and advertisers. 123india.com is still in the process of talking to corporates for potential sponsorships. Mr Sharma added that the primary objective would be to generate traffic for the site which would lead to higher revenues.

"This channel will give us the advantage of using radio's reach and the technology from the Web", he said. He added that this would be a 24-hour channel which would run simultaneously on 10 channels. These would include Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu channels. There will also be channels devoted to Bhajans, Carnatic and Hindustani classical.

According to Mr Sharma, the target for the radio channel will be existing and potential Net users. "123india.com will not be targeting the average radio or music listener", he elaborated. The site is aiming to achieve one million page views in its first month of operation. "We will be talking to other content providers for the radio channel disclosed, Mr Sharma. He added that there would be about three providers eventually.

On the plans for 123india.com, he said, "We want to launch a total of forty channels and attract fifty million page views by the end of next year." This, he said, would come through an extensive online promotion. Mr Sharma was, however, not willing to elaborate on the deatils of the promotion. The future plans also include extensions into news and current affairs.

On the alliance with radioofindia.com, Mr Sharma said, "We are a looking to combine this with our strength in entertainment distribution over the Net" he added. According to radioofindia.com President & CEO Ron Victor, "the high penetration level and brand equity of 123india.com" was the deciding factor for his company's tie-up.

When asked about the IPO from 123india.com, Mr Sharma said it would take place in the middle of 2001. "We are still working on its details", he added while declining to elaborate.

123india.com is a horizontal portal positioned as `India dedicated'. Today, it has a registered user base of over a million. The site offers information on politics, business and sports.