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Rajesh Jain, Internet Visionary and Millionaire

Rajesh Jain, seated at a computer terminal in the Monell Engineering Library, with his portal, IndiaWorld.co.in, on the screen.

Twelve years ago on Labor Day Weekend, Rajesh Jain, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, came to Columbia for the first time. He had no housing, so he stayed with friends.

On this year's Labor Day Weekend, Rajesh Jain returned to the campus for the first time since his graduation with a master's degree in 1989. This time he also stayed with friends. But some changes have occurred in the intervening years. Rajesh Jain has become a multi-millionaire and an advocate for Internet accessibility for everyone, especially those in his country. Last year, Jain sold his portal company, IndiaWorld, to Satyam Infoway for a reported $115 million.

Jain's transformation from graduate student to technocrat began after a two-year stint with NYNEX, marketing high-speed data networks. In 1991, he returned to India and, in May of the following year, founded Ravi Database, a consulting and image-processing company for medical and metallurgical needs. "We had a product but the lead time to order was two or three years and we were losing money," said Jain, matter-of-factly. "The business had to die."

But, like the phoenix, a re-born company, IndiaWorld.com, rose from the ashes in March, 1995. The new company was the result of an inspiration Jain had when he was on the West Coast following the collapse of Ravi Database. It was 1994, Netscape had been launched and there was much talk about the Internet and its potential. Jain recognized it as a way to serve as a bridge in the electronic marketplace and to connect non-resident Indians (NRIs) to their homeland.

Within four years, IndiaWorld.co.in (the successor to Indiaworld.com) had 13 specialized websites linking topics of interest to non-resident Indians: news, cricket, recipes and a search engine were the most popular. To keep the information up-to-the-minute, Jain created a software program that trolls the Internet, gets headlines from actual newspaper websites, and brings them to the IndiaWorld website for the user to access. The headlines are refreshed every 20 minutes.

Jain's most popular sites are samachar.com for news; khel.com for cricket; khoj.com as a search engine; and bawarchi.com for recipes. (The recipes site started with recipes of his Aunt Saroj and has grown to a collection of more than 5,000.)

In November, 1999, Jain sold IndiaWorld.co.in to Satyam Infoway, India's largest Internet service provider, which also owns one of India's largest portals for domestic Indians. IndiaWorld's appeal to NRIs was complementary to Satyam's and he is now working for the parent company. "I have three responsibilities at Satyam," Jain said on a recent trip to New York. "I oversee IndiaWorld operations, I provide strategic direction and input to Satyam and I am now setting up an investment fund for technology companies out of India."

He maintains his modest demeanor and an unspoiled, boyish smile. At 33, he is looking for ways to improve life for his fellow countrymen. Strolling through the Morningside campus on a sunny, September morning, he described his hopes for the future. "I envision the farmers and fishermen being able to access the weather report from wherever they are, no matter how remote. With innovative technologies, they should be able to rent a unit the size of a Palm Pilot for $3 or $4 a month.""We need to skip intervening generations of technology to level the footing with the rest of the world," he said. "We need to make a difference in people's lives so that it is not just 10 million Indians but 100 million Indians using the system in the next three years."

If past performance is any indication of future success, Jain's personal vision will become a reality, and he credits Columbia with helping him achieve his success. "I am grateful to Columbia for the high quality of education that I received," he said.

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