ONDC to transform challenges in commerce; to set example to world: CEO
Mr Koshy speaks at Huddle Global 2023
Trivandrum / November 16, 2023
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov. 16: Leveraging the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform, India will, in the next few years, become an example of how to transform the challenge that is being faced by commerce across the world, Mr T Koshy, CEO of ONDC, said today.
Mr Koshy was speaking at a panel session on ‘ONDC and its Opportunities,’ held on the sidelines of the fifth edition of three-day Huddle Global conclave, India’s biggest beachside startup conclave, organised by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) at Adimalathura beach, near Vizhinjam, here.
ONDC, launched by the Central government’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade in 2021 to develop open e-commerce, is building a digital network for the e-commerce industry that allows an online seller to connect with any buyer in the country.
The initiative aims at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks.
“Before the launch of Digital India scheme, we had the lowest number of digital payments in the world. Today, India manages 42 per cent of global digital transaction,” Mr Koshy informed.
He said the biggest aim of ONDC is to ensure that the businesses of independent entrepreneurs are also making the country prosper, unlike benefitting from it for the shareholders only.
Noting that ONDC is an orchestrator, he said each of the enterprises is doing their specialization using this ‘common language’ and ONDC is providing grammar and vocabulary to everybody to talk to each other and the rules of engagement in that community.
According to him, today the problem in commerce across the globe is market concentration and associated unhealthy practices against the interest of small businesses.
Mr Thomson Skariah, Founder-CEO of Placeorder.com, said ONDC brings out many possibilities for entrepreneurs and it also offers multiple service providers.
Observing that ONDC opens humongous opportunities, Mr Dilip Vamanan, co-founder of Sellerapp, said ONDC will have direct impact on any kind of digital transactions in the next 36 months,
Ms Chandra R Srikanth, Editor, Technology, Startups & New Economy, Moneycontrol, was the moderator.
ONDC, which is akin to Unified Payments Interface (UPI), goes beyond the current platform-centric digital commerce model, and sellers/vendors find it a perfect platform to feature their products that can be sold through several e-commerce platforms across the country
Earlier, in a panel session on ‘Building from Kerala for the World,’ IBS Software Services Founding Chairman Mr V K Mathews said the state has to focus on improving infrastructure, digitally-enabled milieu and launch government-owned and private-operated initiatives.
Mr John Kuriakose, Founder, DentCare, said budding entrepreneurs must have the earnest passion towards their ventures and face challenges with a presence of mind.
Mr Anand Sarma, KPMG Associate Partner, was the moderator.
KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala Government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
