Kolkata, March 20 : India's e-commerce industry is expected to grow more than six times in the next three years to Rs. 27,000 crore, the world's biggest online marketplace operator eBay said Wednesday.

"Our estimate is by 2015, e-commerce in India would be about Rs. 27,000 crore. Right now it is about Rs. 4,200 crore," eBay India director (APAC revenue management) Sharat Digumarti said here.

"E-commerce in the country is still in the nascent stage. But everybody is looking at India as an important opportunity," he said.

According to Digumarti, backed by the proliferation of smartphones in the country, e-commerce sales were set to grow at a huge compound annual growth rate in the coming years.

eBay India said it had been witnessing a lot of growth from the country's tier II and III cities.

"We have seen that all growths that are coming from are from tier II and III cities in India. People are buying smart phones and mobile devices so definitely business will come from these locations," Digumarti said.

He said the firm was expecting 70 percent to 80 percent year-on-year growth, which was in line with the market growth.

eBay, which is into the eight years of operations in India, said currently every minute on an average 12 items are being transacted using its platforms.(IANS)