The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's Network of Common Service Centers (CSC) announced a collaboration to increase e-commerce accessibility in the nation's rural areas.

The project will make it possible for the integration of CSC's e-Grameen app on the ONDC network as a buyer application, giving residents of rural India access to its extensive e-commerce network.

They said that this will forward the goals of Gram Swaraj by increasing incomes and entrepreneurial opportunities for village-level business owners.

The village level entrepreneurs (VLE) who manage the CSCs will be onboarded as buyers on ONDC during the first phase of integration. Sellers who have registered on the CSC platform will be able to receive orders through ONDC in the second phase, which is scheduled to launch within the next 15 days.

“In India, if you give the right tool, even the grameen vasi will know how to use it,” the network’s MD and CEO T Koshy said, speaking at the launch of the collaboration.

The necessary e-commerce services will now be accessible to millions of citizens through the reliable and extensive network of CSCs. In line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision, we aim to increase rural incomes by leveraging the entrepreneurial potential of village-level entrepreneurs together," he stated.

According to Koshy, ONDC logged about seven million transactions in January and anticipates a ten-fold growth by the end of the year.

“Through the trusted and widespread network of CSCs, millions of citizens will now have access to essential e-commerce services. Together, we hope to tap into the entrepreneurial promise of village-level entrepreneurs to boost rural incomes aligned with the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision,” he said.

Sanjay Kumar Rakesh, MD and CEO of CSC SPV stated that the CSC will ensure that contracts that VLEs enter into through ONDC are settled.

He continued by saying that the partnership will enable e-commerce services to reach isolated rural communities and open the door for inclusive growth in these outlying regions of the nation.

“ONDC has now created literally the poor man's Amazon,” said S Krishnan, secretary, ministry of electronics and information technology.

He added that the collaboration would not only increase consumption volumes but also unleash greater efficiency and productivity in the rural economy.

“ONDC has now achieved a kind of critical mass, and we are hoping that in the coming years it will snowball into something as big as UPI (Unified Payments Interface),” said Rajesh Kumar Singh, secretary, department for promotion of industry and internal trade.