India - a business opportunity for info providers
Jinfo Blog

13th July 2009

By Penny Crossland

Item

News and information providers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance that India plays on the world economic stage and of the enormous business potential of the Indian market as a whole. Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal launched an online site aimed at the Indian corporate market (http://www.india.wsj.com), while last week the Journal added a further online resource for information about rural India (http://online.wsj.com/public/page/rural-india.html), aimed at investors and decision-makers whishing to tap into this potential market of around 700 million people. The new site provides news, analysis, commentary, features and video content and covers subjects such as mobile banking, infrastructure, company investments and the growth of the middle class. In keeping with the WSJ freemium business model, while some reports and features are freely accessible, most content is only available in full to subscribers. Education has been identified as a top priority by the Indian Government and is seen as essential to the country’s competitiveness and economic growth. Business information provider Pearson has recognized the business opportunity of India’s burgeoning education market and has recently invested around £30 million in two education companies (http://digbig.com/5babbg). A joint venture with Educomp Solutions will offer vocational and skills training in English to professionals in the financial services, retail and construction sectors amongst others. Pearson will be providing the educational content and technology to develop online training sites. Another investment, involving a stake in a company called Tutor Vista, one of India’s largest online tutoring companies, will see Pearson develop material for the schools market. With the developed world in economic downturn, no doubt we shall be seeing more information providers entering the markets of the BRIC economies in the near future.

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