New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) Open Network for Digital Commerce’s (ONDC) new platform DigiHaat brings India’s artisans, farmers and small producers onto the digital commerce grid, as the government pushes to formalise the country’s vast informal economy, it was announced on Friday.

Launched by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), DigiHaat is a dedicated buyer-side application that directly connects rural and underserved seller communities with online markets.

Unlike other apps on the ONDC network that are privately run, DigiHaat represents ONDC’s own marketplace presence and also acts as a testing ground for new features before they are expanded across the network.

The platform already hosts a wide range of products, including handicrafts, agricultural goods, packaged foods and lifestyle items.

It has a strong focus on women entrepreneurs and self-help group (SHG)-linked producers from remote regions.

Sellers onboarded so far include block-print textile makers from Jaipur, bronze artisans from Bastar, shawl producers from Kashmir and organic farmer-producer organisations from Sikkim.

In a unique move, DigiHaat has also integrated mobility services into its platform. Ride-hailing service Namma Yatri is now live on the app, along with Bharat Taxi, which operates mainly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

More mobility players are expected to join the network in the coming months, according to the official statement.

To make digital onboarding easier, a Beta AI toolkit is being developed for small and rural sellers.

The suite includes vernacular cataloguing tools that allow sellers to operate in regional languages, automated product listing from photographs and logistics intelligence aimed at reducing delivery failures and returns.

The government has set an ambitious target to bring nearly 10 crore small producers — including farmers, weavers, dairy operators, tribal enterprises and artisans — onto the platform.

The broader goal is to boost incomes and bring these communities into the formal financial system, rather than focusing only on increasing online transactions.

ONDC, which operates under DPIIT, was created to build an open and decentralised alternative to traditional e-commerce platforms.

–IANS

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