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eChoupals: A Study on the Financial Sustainability of Village Internet Centers in Rural Madhya Pradesh

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  • Richa Kumar

    (Science, Technology & Society Program MIT E51-070 Cambridge, MA 02139)

Abstract

Over the past few years, the long-term sustainability of ICT initiatives has increasingly come under question. Despite persistent doubts, governments, international agencies, NGOs, and private companies are pressing ahead to set up more such projects. This paper studies the financial sustainability of India's largest rural ICT initiative known as eChoupal. The eChoupals are distinct from other telecenter projects in that the value added is not in providing ICT infrastructure alone, but rather, in enabling efficiencies in the agricultural sector through greater information exchange and creation of an alternative market structure.An analysis of available data indicates that this project has a potential payback period of 3.9 years. Although several assumptions have been used in these calculations, a sensitivity analysis has been performed to provide a range of possible scenarios that show the profitability of the project. Through this analysis it seems that ICT projects can be financially sustainable when they are viewed not as an end in themselves but as tools to facilitate information exchange whereby, use of the technology enables higher efficiencies in another existing or new business setting, which provides the source of revenue to recover the initial investment. Copyright (c) 2005 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Richa Kumar, 2004. "eChoupals: A Study on the Financial Sustainability of Village Internet Centers in Rural Madhya Pradesh," Information Technologies and International Development, MIT Press, vol. 2(1), pages 45-73.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:itintd:v:2:y:2004:i:1:p:45-73
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    Cited by:

    1. Neeraj Dangi & Harjit Singh, 2010. "e-Choupal: Hope or Hype?," American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Science Publications, vol. 2(2), pages 179-184, June.
    2. Goswami, Rupak & Ghosh Roy, Jhumpa & Ghose, Jhulan, 2010. "Telesupport Experiment for Agricultural Information Management in West Bengal, India," MPRA Paper 21571, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Kuriyan, Renee & Ray, Isha, 2009. "Outsourcing the State? Public-Private Partnerships and Information Technologies in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1663-1673, October.
    4. Bhatnagar, Subhash, 2014. "Public Service Delivery: Role of Information and Communication Technology in Improving Governance and Development Impact," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 391, Asian Development Bank.
    5. Glendenning, Claire J. & Babu, Suresh & Asenso-Okyere, Kwadwo, 2010. "Review of agricultural extension in India: Are farmers' information needs being met?," IFPRI discussion papers 1048, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Joyojeet Pal, 2009. "If the State provided free computer literacy, would it find takers? Evidence and propositions from the Akshaya project in India," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 105-116, April.
    7. Aparajita Goyal, 2010. "Information, Direct Access to Farmers, and Rural Market Performance in Central India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 22-45, July.

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