Come October and small Indian businesses will be able to reach out to worldwide customers through a new business-to-business IT portal being designed on the lines of Alibaba.com by the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC).

By listing themselves on the NSIC portal for an annual fee of Rs 5,000, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can gain access to a big database of 2,50,000 potential customers, Chairman and Managing Director H P Kumar said.

However, unlike Alibaba.com, the new NSIC portal -- to be unveiled in October -- would cater exclusively to small and medium enterprises(SMEs).

"We are building the international portal for SMEs similar to Alibaba.com. Buyers and sellers will be able to do business between themselves without any intervention," Kumar told PTI.

The new NSIC portal will have features like hit counters for individual members that list themselves on the site, he said.

It will also have features for creating virtual buyer-seller meets and facilitating requests for quotations for business orders.

The portal will host small and medium companies' details, product catalogues and pictures, Kumar said, adding that SMEs will also be given market intelligence services for a modest extra charge.

The NSIC marketing intelligence unit, which was recently set up on the recommendation of the Prime Minister's Office, provides services like product and tender tracking.