Lucknow, Oct 3 (IANS): Flipkart has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Uttar Pradesh Khadi & Village Industries Board (UPKVIB) as part of the Flipkart 'Samarth' initiative.

This initiative is aimed at enabling artisans, weavers and craftsmen from diverse backgrounds and rural parts of the country to set up their business on Flipkart.

The MoU was signed on Wednesday in the presence of Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"We are hopeful that our association with Flipkart will encourage more artisans and weavers of Uttar Pradesh to become a part of the e-commerce economy," said Dr. Navneet Sehgal, IAS, CEO of UPKVIB.

As part of the Samarth programme, eligible entities and artisans will receive incubation support in the form of onboarding, cataloguing, account management, business insights, dedicated seller support, reduced commission (where eligible) and warehousing.

The Uttar Pradesh government is supporting the initiative by fast-tracking collaboration between Flipkart and UPKVIB registered affiliates that work in the arts, handicrafts and textile space.

UPKVIB and Flipkart will work together to help weavers and artisans sell Khadi fabrics and village industries products across Flipkart's pan-India customer base of over 160 million.

"We are thankful to the Uttar Pradesh government for collaborating with us to bring online the community of Khadi and village industries artisans in U.P.," said Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of the Flipkart Group.