Open Network for Digital Commerce to boost e-commerce adoption among small firms currently offline: Govt

Technology for MSMEs: The open-source e-commerce ecosystem – Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which was announced by the Ministry of Commerce last month, would encourage easy digital adoption by small businesses that are yet to get onboard online commerce networks, said Minister of State for Commerce and Industry ministry Som Parkash. Out of roughly 6.33 crore MSMEs in India, only a handful of enterprises sell goods and services online. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had announced ONDC to cater to the challenge of digital monopolies and “digitize the entire value chain, standardize operations, promote inclusion of suppliers, derive efficiencies in logistics and enhance value for consumers,” an official statement had said last month. Currently, e-commerce in India, which is likely to be worth $188 billion market by 2025 as per Grant Thornton, is led by Walmart’s Flipkart and Amazon India.