Amazon India Joins Hands with Invest India and IIA

BANGALORE:
Amazon India today announced a collaboration with Invest India and Indian Industries Association (IIA) to launch India ODOP (one district one product) Bazaar on Amazon.in. Narayan Rane, Union Minister of MSMEs, Govt of India unveiled this dedicated storefront that showcases and celebrates unique local products from sellers across India at a virtual event in presence of Deepak Bagla, MD and CEO Invest India, Ashok Kumar Agarwal, President, IIA and Manish Tiwary, Country Manager, India Consumer Business, Amazon India.

The India ODOP Bazaar will feature hundreds of ODOP and Geographical Indication (GI) products from local businesses across all Indian states. Through this collaboration with Invest India and IIA, Amazon continues to show its support towards onboarding and launching sellers selling regional products on its India marketplace, www.amazon.in. The storefront will drive a special focus on handlooms & handicrafts created by local Indian artisans as well as locally produced agricultural specialties from across India.

India ODOP Bazaar will provide customers an interactive and engaging experience, they will be able to visit the regional pages and read more about the ODOP products from various districts across India and make a more informed purchasing decision. They will get easy access to varied and unique products such as Chikankari from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Dhokra metal craft from Bastar, Chattisgarh, Coffee from Chikamagaluru, Karnataka, Sambalpuri Ikat from Sambalpur, Odisha, Warli Paintings from Sahyadri, Maharashtra and Muga Silk from Kokrajhar, Assam amongst others. Customers will have the opportunity to support local businesses and contribute to their growth by shopping online.

Narayan Rane, Union Minister of MSMEs said, “MSMEs are the economic growth engine of New India. In line with the clarion call for Atmanirbhar Bharat by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, our government has initiated various schemes and undertaken several important reforms to strengthen the MSMEs and encourage entrepreneurial spirit among the youth of our country. To promote Made in India products and enhance the export potential of our MSMEs my ministry is focused on providing them with a support system to grow – by boosting availability of raw material, technology, financial aid, skills, packaging, marketing and training, amongst others. I am happy to see Amazon take steps in the same direction by digitally enabling lakhs of MSMEs across the country. I would like to congratulate Amazon, Invest India and IIA for working together to launch the India ODOP Bazaar to showcase some of the most unique products that our MSMEs, weavers and artisans have to offer.”

Manish Tiwary, Country Manager, India Consumer Business, Amazon India said, “Our focus has always been on enabling small businesses, entrepreneurs, weavers and artisans to grow their business through ecommerce. The launch of India ODOP Bazaar mirrors this focus as it brings enhanced visibility to some of the most unique products from sellers across India. We are excited to join hands with Invest India and IIA to support the ODOP initiative of Govt of India that promotes handlooms, handicrafts and agricultural products created by local artisans and farmers; and helps accelerate economic growth, generate employment and promote rural entrepreneurship. We remain committed to our pledge of digitizing 10 million MSMEs by 2025 and contribute to the vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

The ODOP Initiative is aimed at manifesting the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India to foster balanced regional development. This, in turn, gives a major push to the MSME sector by harnessing the potential of every district in the country. This platform will provide an opportunity to the small-scale artisans to access larger markets and cutting-edge technology.

Amazon India has introduced several initiatives to promote the growth of small businesses across the country and now has over 10 lakh sellers on its marketplace, out of which over 90% are MSMEs. Today, in partnership with over 60 NGOs, government bodies and SHGs, Amazon Saheli has been able to impact the livelihoods of over 1 million women entrepreneurs. Through the Karigar program, Amazon has impacted 13 lakh artisans and weavers including tribal communities in India, giving them an opportunity to sell their original handloom and hand-crafted products to a large customer base directly, in partnership with government emporiums across various states.