The Uttar Pradesh government plans to launch its own e-commerce website dedicated to goods identified under the states flagship scheme of one district-one product (ODOP).
A senior government official said that the field trial for the portal is taking place which, when launched, will "give competition to websites like Amazon and Flipkart" and promote the state's handicraft at an international platform.
"Anyone who is registered with GST can sell their product on the website. Those artisans who are not registered can also be included on the platform as sub-vendors. At the time of a sale, a direct message is sent to the vendor and a call is made through a helpline to inform the vendor to keep the product ready. The logistics partner will then pick up the product and deliver it," the official said.
Additional Chief Secretary, MSME, Navneet Sehgal said that an ODOP Mart is also being set up by the UP Handicrafts Development & Marketing Corporation. This will benefit artisans who do not have GST registration.
Buyers will also be assured of the quality and authenticity of the product which they purchase through the mart.
"Free cataloguing is being done of ODOP products and an ODOP Mart app will also be launched soon," he said.
Sehgal said that in the previous two and a half years, 11,000 products under 15 categories have been sold on e-commerce sites like Flipkart and Amazon.
More than 355 artists and artisans have registered on these sites and have earned more than Rs 24 crore.
