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NEW DELHI: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal chaired the Bharat Commerce Chintan Shivir, a high-level CEO roundtable convened by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). The meeting brought together more than 40 leaders from India's leading FMCG companies to deliberate on a shared roadmap for strengthening and digitising the country's General Trade ecosystem through ONDC DigiDukaan.
The roundtable focused on developing a shared national roadmap to strengthen and re-empower India's General Trade ecosystem, which remains central to the country's retail economy and the livelihoods of millions of neighbourhood retailers. Discussions emphasised the need for stronger institutional commitment from FMCG companies, distributors and industry stakeholders to accelerate digital procurement, improve supply chain efficiency and enhance the competitiveness of kirana stores. Through DigiDukaan, DPIIT and ONDC aim to bring the industry together around common digital infrastructure, shared services and commercially sustainable models that can facilitate this transformation at scale.
Held at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi, the roundtable brought together senior representatives from Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Coca-Cola India, ITC, P&G, Marico, CavinKare, Pidilite, Britannia, Adani Wilmar, LT Foods, Anmol Industries, Haldiram's, Emami, Veeba and Nilon's, alongside representatives from logistics providers, technology partners and ONDC network participants.
Unlike traditional approaches to kirana digitisation, which primarily focus on enabling retailers to sell online, ONDC DigiDukaan prioritises procurement by digitising kiranas as buyers. Through a single digital interface, retailers can discover and order products from multiple brands, distributors and wholesalers, with greater visibility into pricing, trade schemes and product availability.
The initiative is designed to strengthen existing distribution relationships rather than replace them, while establishing a common digital foundation through which retailers can eventually access shared logistics, formal credit and other services. This approach aims to reduce the complexity and cost of participation across the General Trade value chain.
The roundtable discussions centred on the following priorities for strengthening India's General Trade ecosystem:
- Creating a common digital identity for kiranas: Building towards a unified and interoperable retailer identity that enables kiranas to engage with multiple brands, distributors and service providers without repeatedly navigating fragmented systems.
- Enabling shared logistics and micro-warehousing: Developing common infrastructure to help distributors serve more retail outlets efficiently, including those beyond existing delivery routes, with the aim of facilitating reliable next-day replenishment.
- Expanding access to formal credit: Exploring financing solutions linked to digital procurement and transaction activity to reduce dependence on informal distributor credit and improve access to working capital.
- Simplifying technology integration: Developing plug-and-play Distributor Management System (DMS) connectors, standardised catalogues and common digital interfaces to reduce onboarding complexity and facilitate wider industry participation.
- Realigning commercial incentives: Encouraging FMCG companies to review how sales teams, distributors and channel partners are incentivised so that digital ordering, wider retail coverage and sustained retailer adoption become commercially beneficial across the value chain.
DigiDukaan has demonstrated encouraging early traction, connecting more than 21,000 retailers with over 450 brands across Hyderabad, Jaipur and Mumbai as of September 2026, up from more than 12,000 retailers in the previous quarter.
In Hyderabad, more than 16,000 retailers have been onboarded, with monthly repeat ordering rates ranging from 73 to 78 per cent. An initial ONDC retailer study also found that 40 per cent of surveyed retailers reported lower inventory holdings for products procured through DigiDukaan, highlighting the initiative's potential to improve working capital efficiency.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal said:
"ONDC's DigiDukaan demonstrates that when open digital infrastructure is built around the needs of small retailers, adoption follows. Let this become another case study from which the world can learn from India. By making procurement simpler and more transparent while strengthening our distributors, we can help kiranas free up working capital and grow. I invite the FMCG industry to work together and take this initiative to every corner of Bharat."
Shri Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), said:
"Open digital infrastructure has a critical role to play in accelerating the digitalisation of India's retail ecosystem, particularly its vast network of kirana stores. ONDC's DigiDukaan is an important step in this direction, demonstrating how an open, interoperable network can enable neighbourhood retailers to access digital procurement opportunities and participate more effectively in the evolving digital economy.
"By bringing together retailers, FMCG companies and distributors on a common network, DPIIT, along with ONDC, is helping build a more connected and efficient General Trade ecosystem, creating a pathway for digitalisation to reach kiranas at scale."
The National Traders' Welfare Board (NTWB), under the chairmanship of Shri Sunil J. Singhi, has been working closely with ONDC to accelerate the adoption of DigiDukaan among kirana retailers. The collaboration focuses on mobilising local trade associations, strengthening retailer participation and enabling small businesses to benefit from digital procurement and more efficient distribution networks.
Vibhor Jain, MD & CEO, ONDC, said:
"Digital adoption among the distributor fraternity has been progressing, with billing, printing and order placement largely moving online. However, retailers, most of which are mom-and-pop shops, still rely on pen, paper and memory.
"DigiDukaan is ONDC's effort to build digital infrastructure for India's General Trade ecosystem in the retail sector. We are digitising kiranas as buyers while strengthening the existing distributor network rather than replacing it.
"Our ambition is not merely to connect kiranas to another application. It is to build a shared digital foundation that strengthens the entire General Trade ecosystem and improves network efficiency. A retailer should be able to access multiple brands through a single interface, benefit from transparent schemes, receive dependable and faster replenishment, and eventually access formal credit through the same connected ecosystem."
DigiDukaan is building a growing ecosystem of FMCG brands, technology providers and logistics partners on ONDC. Leading FMCG companies, including HUL, Marico, Colgate-Palmolive, Emami and Amul, are participating through their distribution networks, while ITC, Tata Consumer Products and Britannia are at various stages of integration or discussion.
On the technology front, Paytm for Business, Qwipo and Mulltiply.ai are live on the network, while leading DMS and technology providers, including Bizom, Botree, QuIDPe and ENS, are progressing towards integration.
Logistics and warehousing partners such as ElasticRun, Shiprocket, India Post and Moeving are also part of the expanding ecosystem, supporting DigiDukaan's ambition to facilitate seamless procurement, extend distributor reach and enable faster replenishment for kirana retailers across India.
As part of its next phase, ONDC is focusing on deepening brand and distributor participation in Mumbai, particularly North Mumbai, while strengthening operations across its existing markets.
About ONDC
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is building open digital commerce infrastructure in India through a network-based model aimed at reducing entry barriers and improving market access for businesses. The network has enabled more than 500 million transactions to date, with retail being its core focus area. It is helping create digital networks that improve efficiency, lower costs and unlock new opportunities for businesses, gig workers, small retailers and consumers alike.
ONDC-enabled retail initiatives include DigiDukaan, which has onboarded more than 21,000 retailers for B2B procurement digitisation, and Amazing India, which focuses on enabling products from kisans, karigars, cooperatives and other micro-producers to become e-commerce-ready and reach wider markets.
Other initiatives include the development of public transport infrastructure, facilitating more than 5 lakh metro and bus journeys daily through over 40 consumer applications; logistics infrastructure used by more than 80,000 merchants and over 30 small and micro fleet operators; and more than 1,000 tourism experiences, including 170 Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) monuments and 29 museums, available on the network.
ONDC has also enabled low-ticket investment and credit solutions aimed at expanding financial access, with a majority of investors coming from Tier-2 cities and beyond.
