DPIIT, ONDC Hold Discussion On Digitising India's Kirana Trade

New Delhi, Jun 13 (KNN) The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), along with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), held a roundtable on Friday. 

The event titled ‘CPG Roundtable – Bharat Commerce Chintan Shivir’ brought together executives from consumer goods companies, distributors, technology firms and logistics providers to discuss the digital transformation of India's General Trade sector.

Key Discussion Points

India's General Trade network, made up of over 1.4 crore kirana stores, accounts for nearly 75-80 per cent of FMCG sales. Despite its scale, the sector largely relies on fragmented ordering systems, poor inventory visibility and manual processes, creating inefficiencies for retailers, distributors and brands alike.

Participants discussed challenges facing General Trade, including fragmented retailer engagement, rising sales-force costs, inventory inefficiencies, limited visibility into secondary sales, and growing competition from digital-first retail formats. 

The roundtable also examined how open digital infrastructure could improve retailer access, distributor productivity, demand planning and scheme execution across the FMCG value chain.

Stakeholders shared recommendations on distributor digitisation, catalogue standardisation, retailer onboarding and technology integration. Companies were also invited to join as founding partners for the next phase of DigiDukaan's expansion.

Focus on DigiDukaan

A key point of discussion was DigiDukaan, an ONDC initiative to digitise B2B procurement for kirana stores. 

The programme aims to help retailers improve margins through direct procurement, better visibility of schemes, improved fill rates and stronger working capital management. Distributors stand to gain wider market reach without added field costs, while brands get more direct access to retailer demand data and better tracking of promotional schemes.

DigiDukaan has already been rolled out in Hyderabad, where more than 10,000 retailers and 35 brands have been onboarded through Qwipo. 

The initiative is set to launch in Jaipur on 19 June 2026 via Salescode, with further expansion planned for Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR.

Participation

The roundtable was chaired by DPIIT Additional Secretary Shri Ateesh Kumar Singh, with participation from companies including HUL, ITC, Coca-Cola, TCPL, CavinKare, Marico, Bikano, L'Oréal, Moon Beverages, Anmol Industries, Nestlé and Kirana King. 

The participating organisations expressed interest in supporting the DigiDukaan initiative going forward.

(KNN Bureau)