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The government's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has established its baby footprint in 85 cities with 800 merchants and 26 participants and is set for a fruitful 2023 with the support of industry players, said T. Koshy, Managing Director and CEO, ONDC, on Saturday.

On the eve of its first Foundation Day, with 26 participants and more than 800 merchants, ONDC is rapidly expanding its footsteps and is on its way of transforming digital commerce in India, and evolving to be a benchmark to the whole world, Koshy said in a LinkedIn post.

"In the past year, ONDC has grown from establishing its proof-of-concept in a digital simulation to its first real-world transactions, establishing its footprint in 85 cities as part of alpha testing and subsequently launching its Beta in Bengaluru first followed by Meerut," the ONDC CEO informed.

He said that the vision of ONDC is to democratise e-commerce so that every citizen can use e-commerce to buy products and services from every seller, MSME and small business in India.

"Through ONDC, sellers, no matter their size or scale will be able to participate in eCommerce on their own terms," Koshy noted.

ONDC, a Ministry of Commerce initiative, will enable sellers to tap this massive market by offering an equitable and secure platform that integrates multiple sellers, buyers and logistics players.

ONDC was incorporated as a non-profit company with the support of institutions which have built population-scale initiatives for the country including the Quality Council of India and Protean as its founding members.

Subsequently, 17 other banks and financial institutions joined as shareholders.

These include State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Uco Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Axis Bank, ICICI bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, IDFC Bank, BSE, BSE, NSDL, CDSL, CSC eGovernance, NABARD and SIDBI.

"Following the vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ONDC will enable a broad cross section of merchants, artisans, FPOs, traders, SMEs, weavers across every corner of India with equal opportunities as the big established players in the digital world," said Koshy.

"We are taking baby steps and we can succeed only with the support and participation of all industry players in this journey," he added.