Amazon’s View On Government’s Open Network for Digital Commerce Initiative

With the rising eCommerce market in India, alot of small retailers are entering the digital world to improve their income. Currently, the Indian eCommerce market is dominated mainly by two major players, Amazon and Flipkart. To end this dominancy, the Government Of India has introduced the ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) initiative to provide an online platform for small and medium retailers to enter the online market. On April 29, 2022, a pilot launch of the ONDC was rolled out in 5 major cities of India - Delhi National Capital Region, Bhopal, Bengaluru, Shillong, and Coimbatore. 

Recently, the media asked Manish Tiwary, Amazon’s Country Manager for India Consumer Business, about his views on the ONDC initiative. Replying to the question, he stated that Amazon is thrilled about the prospects of the ONDC program in India’s still incipient eCommerce market as the idea of this initiative is fascinating. He also added that the company is currently focused on serving the next 500 million customers; due to this, he is looking for innovations that will uplift the entire ecosystem by accommodating more sellers and buyers.

When asked if the arrival of the Government’s ONDC initiative will impact the business model of various eCommerce players, Mr. Tiwary said that India’s eCommerce market is still in its early stages. He also mentioned that more involvement of new players would introduce innovations and accelerate the industry's growth. Further supporting his statement, Mr. Tiwary mentioned that it would be great if ONDC managed to gain 200 million sellers as more and more sellers would be able to sell in the digital space.

Mr. Manish Tiwary stated that Amazon is actively engaging with the ONDC group and is committed to the Government’s ideology to digitize local stores, kiranas, etc. This Jeff Bezos founded company will work closely with the Indian Government to grow the country’s eCommerce market. He also stated that Amazon is confident in the Indian market and is committed to its previous commitments about job creation, MSME digitization, and exports.

Previously, in May 2022, Amazon announced that it had created over 11.6 lakh direct and indirect jobs, exported more than $5 billion in goods, and helped over 40 lakh MSMEs to digitize themselves. This company announcement came after it pledged in January 2020 to digitize 1 crore MSMEs, enable $10 billion in exports, and create 20 lakh direct and indirect jobs in India. Amazon also mentioned that it is on track to complete the target and has doubled the previous targets.