Major Larsen & Tubro Engineering (L & T) hopes to change the new e-commerce business, L & T-Sufin, to “multi-million dollar business,” said the senior executive at the official launch of the platform on March 7.

L & T has launched an e-commerce business-to-business platform (B2B) which aims to create a market for manufacturers of industrial products and services and help buyers in procurement. L & T Sufin also partnered with banks and non-banking financial companies that will offer financing facilities to buyers.

“It can be a multi-million business in a few years. We have a period of time in mind but I don’t want to talk about it now,” Anup Sahay, Head of Company Strategy and Special Initiative at L & T told reporters during the launch.

The platform will utilize the digital capabilities and L & T technology and its presence across the infrastructure segment to provide a platform that can simplify the value chain for small and medium enterprises. L & T will operate as a aggregator for products and services, and get 1.5 percent transactions in transactions. The company will also unite investors and buyers, and get fees.

Sahay said that the L & T decision to start this business is based on group decisions to grow digital offers, significant market size for industrial products and services, and the lack of B2B’s e-commerce platform that is fully integrated for construction and industrial products and financing.

L & T-Sufin currently has more than 40 categories of industrial products, as well as financing and logistics support from partners that have been examined by the company.

“We will develop in the next 18 months or more to double available products and services. We also see one or two other income streams related to this,” said Sahay.

The platform will provide working capital for micro, small and medium enterprises from a group of financing partners.

“We don’t use our balance sheet (L & T) to finance. It will be done exclusively through our banking partners and NBFC. We have a cost of sharing costs with institutions with whom we bind,” said Bhadresh Pathak, Head of Business, L & T- Sufin.

L & T has identified the digital business as a growth business as a conglomerate working to increase service contributions to total income. Besides L & T-Sufin, the company has also launched L & T Edutech, the Ed-Tech platform that will focus on technical and technological knowledge.