Flipkart and Punjab government team up to bring MSMEs, artisans, and weavers online
Under the two MoUs signed by Flipkart and the Punjab government, thousands of under-resourced sellers, artisans, and weavers will be brought into the ecommerce fold, with national market access, training, and support to grow their businesses.
Flipkart, India’s leading ecommerce marketplace, has signed two MoUs with the government of Punjab to increase business and trade inclusion opportunities for MSMEs in the state.
According to a press release, through these MoUs, thousands of under-resourced sellers, artisans, and weavers from Punjab will be on-boarded to Flipkart through its ‘Samarth’ initiative. The programme will bring them into the ecommerce fold, offering national market access, training, and support to grow their businesses.
(L-R) Sibin C, MD, Punjab Small Industries & Export Corporation; Vini Mahajan, Additional Chief Secretary Investment Promotions and Industry & Commerce, Punjab; Shyam Sundar Arora, Industry Minister; and Rajneesh Kumar, SVP and Head of Corporate Affairs, Flipkart Group.
“Through the course of this partnership, Punjab’s traditional arts and culture will gain wider visibility on the national stage and our MSMEs will get national market access,” said Rajat Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, Invest Punjab.
Under the first MoU, Flipkart and the Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion will focus on showcasing hallmark products of the state of Punjab. In addition, select local artisans and weavers in the Flipkart Samarth programme will receive a host of benefits, including incubation support.
The second MoU, directed at MSMEs, will ensure ease of on-boarding, operating, and scaling up for micro, small and medium enterprises in the state. To supplement this effort, Flipkart will conduct workshops in various cities of Punjab to build awareness about the benefits of ecommerce among MSMEs and make them cognisant of the support available to them.
“We look forward to a fruitful partnership with the government of Punjab to provide the state’s numerous MSMEs, artisans, and weavers the opportunity to showcase and sell their products to a pan-India customer base of over 200 million,” said Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Flipkart Group.
Punjab is home to over 1.6 lakh micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, which are crucial drivers of job creation and economic growth, and reflect the enterprising spirit of the state.
The developing ecommerce industry provides new business opportunities for these sellers, many of whom are unfamiliar with how to sell online, and do not get to interact with online marketplaces to clear their doubts regularly.
Flipkart has recently initiated a programme to conduct workshops with FICCI across the country to address these pain points. Presently, the Flipkart marketplace has about 3,000 sellers from Punjab.
(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)
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