If you have promised somebody the moon, you can at least buy a notional piece of it on the Internet.

Vishal Kamdar of Vadodara, 110 km from here, recently "bought" two acres of the "moon land" by filling up a form on the website (www.lunarrepublic.com) and received ownership papers from the firm for a price of Rs.2,500.

The Lunar Republic Society of the US, established in 1999, offers on its website various "property options" for moon lovers.

"Breathtaking vistas, prime location and great price. Add to it, the beauty of a nearby crater. A superb selection for the discerning buyer! Buy more than five acres, get a 10 percent discount," a typical offer reads.

"Some time ago I read in a newspaper about a man in Kolkata who had bought a plot on the moon through a website," local media reports quoted him as saying.

"I found the website, followed the procedure and now I have received the ownership papers," Kamdar said.

His father Dipak Kamdar said: "We are all excited even though we know that nothing will come out of it. After all, the amount is not big."

The Lunar Republic Society website claims that proceeds from the sales are to be invested in a non-government initiative of US companies to explore and develop the moon for human habitation.

Registered as an international business company, the "Lunar Republic" is authorised to operate in more than 200 countries, including India.

In the five years of its existence, it claims to have enrolled "over 800,000 citizen-partners from around the world, and from all walks of life".

The society claims that the method of fund-raising it has employed is similar to that used by the National Geographic Society in the early 20th century to provide funds for a mission to the North Pole.