25 APR 2023 : Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal said that the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) of tomorrow will be a transformational engine across the world and not only in India during his address at “Enabling Bharat 2.0”, a one-day workshop conducted by ONDC today in New Delhi. The Minister said that he is optimistic about a significant growth of ONDC in the next few months. He invited all e-commerce companies, big and small, to join ONDC and be part of this new bazaar that reimagines digital commerce.He mentioned that ONDC will promote local languages, products, and cultural heritage, and create opportunities for small businesses. He said that small artisans and workers can offer better quality through ONDC and also earn better without having to pay commission for their products. He emphasized that ONDC will foster healthy competition, benefit consumers and contribute to the overall growth of the digital commerce ecosystem in India.He said that the Prime Minister believes that our ability to develop depends on our ability to leverage technology. He said that monolithic e-commerce platforms will never be able to provide the services of the kind that a network of platforms like ONDC can offer. The Minister highlighted the various sectors that may benefit from ONDC like farmers who can access bigger markets and demand better prices for their products, students who can compare prices of books and online courses, people who can avail health services at the best prices, etc.He emphasized on the need to create systems that benefit everyone and create opportunities for all. He said that the efforts are being undertaken to ensure that e-commerce becomes an engine of growth that empowers both buyers and sellers. The Minister highlighted that ONDC will unlock doors of opportunities in an inclusive manner for both big and small businesses, benefitting the entire value chain of commerce. He said that ONDC will provide a much larger market for sellers, without any preferred or priority sellers, ensuring equitable and fair treatment for all stakeholders. He said that ONDC will foster economies of scale, competition, and better pricing and quality, ultimately benefiting consumers. He said that ONDC is customer-centric, keeping in line with the vision of Mahatma Gandhi, where the customer is king.
