Three years ago I joined web industry with a vision to understand and create better brands. At that time many of friends were not comfortable with this industry. By then India was only known for its cheap labor available to create websites and small programming. You could only find Indians bidding for smaller contracts at much cheaper rate.
The story is changing much rapidly than expected. Now I can see special but regular Web related items on News channels. “Gang of girls” advertisement by sunsilk asking girls to blog, Mblog by Nokia N-series, Rediff mail ads are few examples of the change. Now people talk about blogs, forums more often than those days. BSNL’s recent plans have attracted many to get an Internet connection. I can get a good Internet connection by just paying Rs 500 per month.
I can also see daily newspapers like telegraph, times of India, economic times covering wikipedia, blogspot almost everyday. I also heard that Vonage is planning a launch in India.
PCs going cheaper were an add-on to this growth. Now anyone can get a good configured PC for approx Rs 25,000 ($600). Also India is expanding a government-led program to provide free, local language software to all of its citizens, as it tries to broaden computer use in the country.
Overall it is going better. There is still enough Indian web space vacant for entrepreneurs. Hope to see many more B-schools promoting web as a better marketing platform.