Tendertimes.Com To Sponsor Pms First-Ever Webchat

Calcutta-based start up tendertimes.com, the dotcom arm of software services company Ontrack Systems Ltd (OSL), has pipped larger rivals with deeper pockets to bag the lucrative sponsorship for the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's first ever online (hour-long chat) with netizens slated for 1730 hours on June 25, 2000, at the india-today.com home page.

Confirming the move, OSL promoter B Hari said, "We have always made an effort to be different from others. Last week, we added one more first to our credit when Allahabad Bank, for the first time made its 121-page bid document available online through tendertimes.com." OSL bagged the rights for the PM-chat sponsorship despite hectic lobbying by some of the leading corporate houses in the country.

 

Finance minister Yashwant Sinha had entered the same chat room on india-today.com home page after presenting the Budget. But then, the server had gone down with the site witnessing massive rush with around 18,000 queries.

"We have now changed our platform to Linux and this is expected to handle the anticipated rush on June 25, 2000," India Today Group Online (ITGO) sources said. The site moderators, however, are not taking any chances and have already begun accepting questions to avoid last moment rush.

For tendertimes.com, the chat with the prime minister will provide a major brand building opportunity.