The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) have brought together leading FMCG companies, distributors and technology firms to accelerate the digital transformation of India’s general trade ecosystem through the DigiDukaan initiative.
The DPIIT, in collaboration with ONDC, convened a roundtable meeting under the Bharat Commerce Chintan Shivir on June 12 to discuss the expansion of DigiDukaan, a platform designed to digitise procurement processes for India’s vast network of kirana stores. The meeting gathered representatives from consumer goods companies, distributor networks, technology providers and policy stakeholders.
India’s general trade ecosystem, comprising more than 1.4 crore kirana stores, accounts for nearly 75-80 per cent of the country’s FMCG sales. Despite its scale, the sector continues to rely heavily on fragmented ordering systems, limited inventory visibility and manual sales processes.
DigiDukaan aims to address these challenges by enabling kirana retailers to improve procurement efficiency through direct digital access to brands and distributors. The platform allows retailers to access improved field rates, inventory information and marketing schemes, while supporting order collection and distribution digitisation. Brands, in turn, gain enhanced visibility into retailer demand, retail counters and scheme performance.
According to ONDC, the initiative has already gained traction in Hyderabad, where more than 10,000 retailers and over 35 brands have been onboarded through Quipo. Following the Hyderabad rollout, DigiDukaan is scheduled for launch in Jaipur on June 19, 2026, through Salescode, with expansion planned across Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR in the coming months.
Participants at the roundtable examined key issues affecting the FMCG distribution ecosystem, including fragmented retailer engagement, rising sales-force costs, inventory inefficiencies, limited visibility into secondary sales and growing competition from digital-first retail models. Discussions also focused on distributor digitisation, catalogue standardisation, retailer onboarding and technology integration.
The meeting was chaired by Additional Secretary Shri Ateesh Kumar Singh and included participation from companies such as HUL, ITC, Coca-Cola, TCPL, CavinKare, Marico, Bikano, L’Oréal, Moon Beverages, Anmol Industries, Nestlé and Kirana King. The participating organisations expressed support for the continued expansion of the DigiDukaan initiative.
Source/Credit: This article is based on the official press release issued by the Press Information Bureau issued by Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Press Release Page | Press Information Bureau
