E-commerce platforms offer MSMEs a vast market, but they often come with high transaction costs. To assist micro and small enterprises in marketing their products online and expanding their market reach, the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises launched the “MSME Trade Enablement and Marketing Initiative” (MSME-TEAM Initiative) on June 27, 2024, as part of the RAMP program. This initiative aims to help 500,000 MSMEs join the Open Network Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform through awareness workshops that provide hands-on assistance for onboarding. This support is expected to significantly reduce transaction costs for MSMEs.
The MSME-TEAM Initiative provides financial assistance to micro and small enterprises (MSEs) for various activities including catalog preparation, account management, logistics, and packaging design through Seller Network Participants. This will help MSMEs showcase their products to a larger audience, opening up new market opportunities beyond their traditional customer base. With access to more suppliers and service providers, MSMEs can reduce their business costs. The commission on the ONDC platform will be lower compared to traditional e-commerce platforms, enabling even the smallest enterprises to engage in online transactions. The initiative aims to benefit 500,000 MSEs, with half of them being women-owned.
This information was provided by the Minister of State for the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Sushri Shobha Karandlaje, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
