New Delhi, Jan 2 (IANS): The government-run Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has empowered small businesses and revolutionised e-commerce, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

ONDC -- a network of more than 200 apps, including buyer apps and seller apps -- was launched in 2021 to democratise e-commerce in India.

The PM said that ONDC has been enabling growth and prosperity in the country.

“ONDC has contributed to empowering small businesses and revolutionising e-commerce, thus playing a vital role in furthering growth and prosperity,” said PM Modi, in a post on social media platform X.

The Prime Minister said this quoting a post by Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry.

Goyal noted that ONDC has revolutionised the country’s e-commerce landscape; and has bridged the gap between sellers and buyers.

ONDC has built “a robust and inclusive digital marketplace”, Goyal said. He added that in the last year, the network has “not only achieved numerous milestones but also empowered businesses, especially small enterprises, by creating a level playing field for them on the network”.

“By bridging the gap between sellers and buyers, ONDC continues to revolutionise the nation’s e-commerce landscape!” Goyal said.

In the last three years, ONDC has seen more than 150 million transactions, over 200 networks.

The platform has over 7 lakh sellers and service providers, with sellers from over 600 cities and towns.

Consumers from over 1,100 cities and towns have transacted through the network.

Further, more than 7,000 farmer-producer organsations are part of the platform, representing 35 lakh farmers.

About 50 per cent of beneficiaries at the MSME Trade Enablement and Marketing Initiative (MSME-TEAM), which aims at assisting five lakh Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are women-owned enterprises.