NITI Aayog Invites Study to Provide Roadmap for Integration of SMEs on e-Commerce Platforms

NEW DELHI: In order to chart out a national policy to integrate small businesses and traders on the e-commerce platform, government think-tank NITI Aayog has invited expression of interest from institutes and research firms to conduct a feasibility study.

The study is expected to provide a roadmap for integration of SMEs across India on e-commerce platforms by providing universal e-commerce access and its culmination as centralized online repository of Indian SMEs product offerings.

Besides, it will also evaluation existing market places managed by various government departments i.e. NSIC Bazar, VLE Bazar, msmemart.com, CSE Bazars, GeM etc. and their revamping to support product and service identification process, digitization of product and services through cataloguing.

“Evaluating existent products/ service database with respective state/ MSME departments., identifying and creating products / service catalogues which can be later integrated with the existing market places and assessment of leveraging universal e-commerce access for exports,” the Aayog said in its notice inviting expression of interest.

Aayog is of the view that e-commerce, as a medium has been able to multiply both upstream and downstream integration possibilities for a seller or a service provider.

“Although growing at an unprecedented rate, it has not succeeded to integrate the large proportion of Indian MSME sellers on their marketplaces because of challenges of basic ease in moving on these marketplaces to digital literacy, not so attractive economic return from onboarding and unregulated nature of marketplaces,” it said.

India has an estimated 6.4 crores MSMEs in the country, contributing significantly to the economic and social development by fostering entrepreneurship and generating employment opportunities both at urban as well as rural level, which is only next to agriculture sector.

Source:ET