Category: Science & Technology

CERT-In issues directions relating to information security practices, procedure, prevention, response and reporting of cyber incidents for Safe & Trusted Internet (Press release 28 April 2022)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Information Technology, Science & Technology

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) serves as the national agency for performing various functions in the area of cyber security in the country as per provisions of section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000. CERT-In continuously analyses cyber threats and handles cyber incidents tracked and reported to it. CERT-In regularly issues advisories to organisations and users to enable them to protect their data/information and ICT infrastructure. In order to coordinate response activities as well as emergency measures with respect to cyber security incidents, CERT-In calls for information from service providers, intermediaries, data centres and body corporate.

During the course of handling cyber incidents and interactions with the constituency, CERT-In has identified certain gaps causing hindrance in incident analysis. To address the identified gaps and issues so as to facilitate incident response measures, CERT-In has issued directions relating to information security practices, procedure, prevention, response and reporting of cyber incidents under the provisions of sub-section (6) of section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000. These directions will become effective after 60 days.

The directions cover aspects relating to synchronization of ICT system clocks; mandatory reporting of cyber incidents to CERT-In; maintenance of logs of ICT systems; subscriber/customer registrations details by Data centers, Virtual Private Server (VPS) providers, VPN Service providers, Cloud service providers; KYC norms and practices by virtual asset service providers, virtual asset exchange providers and custodian wallet providers. These directions shall enhance overall cyber security posture and ensure safe & trusted Internet in the country.

The directions issued by CERT-In are available at https://www.cert-in.org.in/Directions70B.jsp

Steps taken to promote upskilling or reskilling & capacity building in the field of Artificial Intelligence (Press release 30 March 2022)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Entrepreneurship, Science & Technology

Government of India has taken several steps to promote upskilling or reskilling in the field of Artificial Intelligence which include the following: –

  1. Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has initiated a programme titled FutureSkills PRIME (www.futureskillsprime.in) in collaboration with NASSCOM, a B2C framework for re-skilling/ up-skilling of IT professionals in 10 Emerging are as including Artificial Intelligence. So far, 7 Lakh candidates have signed-up on the FutureSkills PRIME Portal, out of which, 1.2 lakh candidates have completed their courses. In addition, 524 Trainers and 4292 Government Officials have been trained on these technologies by NIELIT/C-DAC Resource Centres, and around 1.3 lakh unique learners have collectively earned 8.9 lakh ‘badges’ in recognition of having completed bite- sized digital fluency content.Under Artificial Intelligence, 36,528 candidates are enrolled in deep– skilling courses and 47,744 candidates are enrolled in Foundation courses.
  2. Government has published the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in June 2018 and proposes to develop an ecosystem for the research and adoption of Artificial Intelligence i.e. #AIFOR ALL.
  3. Government has launched ‘National AI Portal’ (https://indiaai.gov.in/) which is a repository of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based initiatives in the country at a single place. As on date, there are 1024 national and international articles, 655 news, 200 videos, 90 research reports, 279 Startups, 120 Government initiatives listed at National AI Portal.

In addition, various steps have been taken to promote capacity building in Artificial Intelligence which include the following:

  1. Government has initiated ‘Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme’ with an objective to enhance the number of PhDs in Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) and IT/IT Enabled Services (IT/ITES) sectors in the country. The research areas under the scheme include Artificial Intelligence (covering 82 PhD fellows) and Machine Learning (covering 59 PhD fellows).
  2. National Programme on Responsible Use of AI for Youth: With the objective to empower the youth to become AI ready and help reduce the skill gap, government along with Industry partner has started this initiative to promote AI awareness among Government school going children. In Phase I, 50,666 students and 2536 teachers from 2252 schools from 35 States and UTs attended orientation sessions on AI. In Phase II, 100 teams have been short listed and have undergone extensive mentoring by AI experts. In Phase-III, Top 20 students have demonstrated their solutions in the national conference.
  3. To foster innovation through research, government has created several ‘Centres of Excellence’ on various Emerging Technologies including Artificial Intelligence. These centres connect various entities such as startups, enterprises, venture capitalists, government and academia to look into problem statements and develop innovative solutions.
  4. Department of Science & Technology is implementing the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) to promote R&D, Human Resource Development (HRD), Technology Development, Entrepreneurship Development, International Collaboration etc. As part of the Mission implementation, 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (this) have been established in reputed institutes across the country in advanced technologies including Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.
  5. Government of India has also joined the league of leading economies including USA, UK, EU, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore as a founding member of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), which is an international and multi-stakeholder initiative to guide the responsible development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth.
  6. Government of India organized Responsible AI for Social Empowerment (RAISE) in 2020, a first-of-its-kind global meeting of minds on Artificial Intelligence to drive India’s vision and roadmap for social transformation, inclusion and empowerment through responsible AI. It was attended by 79,000+ stakeholders from academia, research, industry and government representatives from 147 participating countries.320 distinguished speakers from 21 countries participated in the event.

The initiatives mentioned above are focusing on digital enablement of citizensin the field of Artificial Intelligence including those belonging to the Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities. Further, the FutureSkills PRIME programmefollows an ‘aggregator of aggregators’ approach for digital skills training on a national scale and is hosted as an online B2Ce-commerce platform, thereby also enabling citizens in Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities to participate in the programme. To further strengthen the physical and digital connectivity, 40 C-DAC/NIELIT Centres spread across the country are also institutionalizing blended-learning programmes, in a hub and spoke mode, as Lead & Co-Lead Resource Centres.

Further, the FutureSkills PRIME programme targets to re-skill/ up-skill aspirants in emerging technologies so that they stay relevant in their present job with improved prospects, besides finding new avenues in future job-roles.The programme also targets those whose may have lost their existing jobs due to disruptive and emerging technologies. Towards this, the programme takes into account employment linkages, such as a ‘Career Prime’ web-page on the platform and an integrated ‘Career Portal’,which provides information on IT-ITeS jobs, internships, apprenticeships, hackathons etc.

Under FutureSkills PRIME, incentives are available to the trainees, including those from economically weaker backgrounds, after the learner is successfully assessed and certified. The incentive mechanism is aimed at motivating the learner to successfully complete the online up- skilling/re-skilling programs.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

 

Government invites applications for National Startup Awards 2022 across 17 sectors and 7 special categories

Posted on by Business So Simple in Science & Technology, Startups

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has launched the third edition of the National Startup Awards.In line with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the National Startup Awards 2022 will acknowledge startups and enablers who have been instrumental in revolutionising the development story of India and hold within them the power and potential to further fuel the spirit of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

The first National Startup Awards were announced in 2020 and witnessed applications from over 1,600 startups and ecosystem enablers across India. The recently concluded National Startup Awards 2021 saw participation from over 2,200 startups and ecosystem enablers. After conducting two successful editions, the National Startup Awards 2022 are open for applications.

The awards for startups will be given in 17 sectors classified into 50 sub-sectors. The 17 sectors are Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Construction, Drinking Water, Education & Skill Development, Energy, Enterprise Technology, Environment, FinTech, Food Processing, Health and Wellness, Industry 4.0, Media & Entertainment, Security, Space, Transport, and Travel.

In addition, there are seven special categories of awards for startups:

  • Women-led startups
  • Impact in rural areas
  • Campus startups
  • Manufacturing excellence
  • Innovation tackling the pandemic (preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, monitoring, digital connect, work from home solutions, etc.)
  • Solution delivery or business operations in Indic languages
  • Startups from North-East (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura) and Hilly States/ Union Territories (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh)

The National Startup Awards 2022 will also reward exceptional incubators and accelerators as key building blocks of a robust startup ecosystem.

A cash prize of INR 5 lakh will be awarded to each winning startup. The winners and runners-up will also be given opportunities to present their solutions to relevant public authorities and corporates for potential pilot projects and work orders and pitching opportunities with investors. They will also be given priority for participation in various national and international startup events.

A cash prize of INR 15 lakh each will be awarded to one winning incubator and one winning accelerator.

The applications for the National Startup Awards 2022 are open till 15th March 2022. For more details, visit www.startupindia.gov.in/content/sih/en/nsa2022.html.

Single Window System (Ministry of Commerce & Industry Press Release 08th Dec 2021)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Business Consultancy, Entrepreneurship, Science & Technology, Startups

While presenting Budget 2020-21, Finance Minister announced plans to set up an Investment Clearance Cell (ICC) that will provide “end to end” facilitation and support to investors, including pre-investment advisory, provide information related to land banks and facilitate clearances at Centre and State level. The cell was proposed to operate through an online digital portal.

Subsequently, as per the mandate, DPIIT along with Invest India initiated the process of developing the portal as a National Single Window System (NSWS). Envisioned as a one-stop for taking all the regulatory approvals and services in the country, NSWS [www.nsws.gov.in] was soft-launched on 22nd September, 2021 by Commerce & Industry Minister.

This national portal integrates the existing clearance systems of various Ministries/ Departments of Government of India and State Governments without disruption to their existing IT portals.

Currently, approvals of 19 Ministries/ Departments and 10 States Single Window Systems have been on-boarded on the NSWS Portal. List of the onboarded Ministries/ Departments and States is as below:

Ministries/ Departments integrated with NSWS:

  1. M/o Corporate Affairs
  2. M/o Environment, Forest & Climate Change
  3. M/o Labour& Employment
  4. D/o Food & Public Distribution
  5. D/o Consumer Affairs
  6. M/o Health & Family Welfare (FSSAI & CDSCO)
  7. D/o Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
  8. D/o Commerce
  9. D/o Telecommunications
  10. M/o Information & Broadcasting
  11. M/o Power
  12. M/o Railways
  13. D/o Biotechnology
  14. D/o Revenue
  15. M/o Civil Aviation
  16. M/o Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
  17. D/o Fisheries
  18. M/o Textiles
  19. M/o Petroleum and Natural Gas

States integrated with NSWS:

  1. Goa
  2. Gujarat
  3. Himachal Pradesh
  4. Odisha
  5. Uttar Pradesh
  6. Uttarakhand
  7. Punjab
  8. Karnataka
  9. Andhra Pradesh
  10. Telangana

The Know Your Approvals (KYA) Module is an information wizard which guides investors to identify an indicative list of requisite pre-operations approvals/ licenses applicable. This is facilitated by answering a series of questions which gets populated basis the information provided by the investor in the previous question. Post submission of the KYA questionnaire, the investors are able to view an indicative list of licenses pertaining to the Central/ State Governments that are applicable to them. The investors are also guided on these questions and their applicability/ purpose by an Information Toolbox. This is to enhance the ease of user experience and eliminate information asymmetry on this module.

The KYA service is live on NSWS with 544 approvals across concerned 32 Central Ministries/ Departments and 2715 approvals across 14 States. Total 3259 approvals are listed.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Shri SomParkash, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

‘Make In India’ Project (Ministry of Commerce & Industry Press release dated 08 Dec 2021)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Business Consultancy, Entrepreneurship, Science & Technology, Startups

‘Make in India’ is an initiative which was launched on 25th September, 2014 to facilitate investment, foster innovation, build best in class infrastructure, and make India a hub for manufacturing, design, and innovation. It is one of the unique ‘Vocal for Local’ initiatives that promoted India’s manufacturing domain to the world. The ‘Make in India’ initiative is not a State/ district/ city / area specific initiative, rather it is being implemented all over the country.

‘Make in India’ initiative has significant achievements and presently focuses on 27 sectors under Make in India 2.0. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is coordinating action plans for 15 manufacturing sectors, while Department of Commerce is coordinating 12 service sector plans.

The Government of India is making continuous efforts under Investment Facilitation, including financial assistance to Invest India, for implementation of Make in India action plans to identify potential investors. Support is being provided to Indian Missions abroad and State Governments for organizing events, summits, road-shows and other promotional activities to attract investment in the country under the Make in India banner.

Investment Outreach activities are being carried out for enhancing International co-operation for promoting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and to improve Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) in the country. Steps taken to improve Ease of Doing Business include simplification and rationalization of existing processes. As a result of the measures taken to improve the country’s investment climate, India jumped to 63rd place in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking as per World Bank’s Doing Business Report (DBR) 2020 from a rank of 142 in 2014.

DPIIT, in consultation with the State Governments, has also started a comprehensive reform exercise in States and UTs in December 2014. Under Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP), all States/UTs in the country are ranked on the basis of reforms implemented by them on designated parameters. This exercise has helped in improving business environment across States.

Measures taken by the Government on FDI Policy reforms have resulted in increased FDI inflows in the country year after year. India registered its highest ever annual FDI inflow of US$ 81.97 billion (provisional figures) in the financial year 2020-21 despite the COVID related disruptions. These trends in India’s FDI are an endorsement of its status as a preferred investment destination amongst global investors. In the last seven financial years (2014-21), India has received FDI inflow worth US$ 440.27 billion which is nearly 58 percent of the FDI reported in the last 21 years (US$ 763.83 billion).

Government has taken various other steps in addition to ongoing schemes to boost domestic and foreign investments in India. These include improving the Ease of Doing Business, Reduction in Compliance Burden, the National Infrastructure Pipeline, Reduction in Corporate Tax, Easing liquidity problems of NBFCs and Banks, Policy measures to boost domestic manufacturing through Public Procurement Orders, Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP), Schemes for Production Linked Incentives (PLI) of various Ministries, India Industrial Land Bank, Industrial Park Rating System etc. With the announcement of PLI Schemes, significant creation of production, employment, and economic growth is expected over the next 5 years and more.

Besides the above, activities under the initiative are also undertaken through schemes/ programmes, by several Central Government Ministries/ Departments and various State Governments from time to time. The details of these measures are not centrally maintained by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Shri SomParkash, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Automotive Industry : Notification of Mass Emission Standards for E12 AND E15 fuels

Posted on by Business So Simple in Business Consultancy, Entrepreneurship, Public Affairs, Science & Technology, Startups

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways

Notification of Mass Emission Standards for E12 AND E15 fuels

Posted Date:- Oct 13, 2021

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways vide GSR 728 (E) dated 11th October 2021 has notified mass emission standards for E 12 (12% Ethanol with Gasoline) and E15 (15% Ethanol 12 with gasoline) fuels. This will enable the Automotive Industry to manufacture E 12 and E 15 compliant motor vehicles.

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Click here to see Notification

MJPSRelease Id :-1763584

MSME Ministry has set a target to enhance its contribution to GDP up to 50% by 2025 as India becomes a $5 trillion economy

Posted on by Business So Simple in MSME, Science & Technology

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, new business enterprises are heavily dependent on scientific technology in contemporary India


Delivers the keynote address at the 7th India International MSME Trade and Investments Expo Summits 2021 in New Delhi today

MSME Ministry has set a target to enhance its contribution to GDP up to 50% by 2025 as India becomes a $5 trillion economy

Ministry of Science & Technology Press Release dated 19 Aug 2021

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that new business enterprises are heavily dependent on scientific technology and for the industry as well as big and small enterprises to realise their optimum utilisation in contemporary India, not only the scientific applications but also scientific temper and scientific attitude will be essential for the entrepreneurs to succeed.

Delivering the Keynote Address at the 7th India International MSME Expo Summits 2021 here, the Minister said, small and micro enterprises supported by competitive and cutting edge technology will be the foundation for bigger industries in India and asked the scientific community to share the successful R&D outcomes with the industries and corporate houses. He said, all future entrepreneurship will be driven by Science and Technology and called for adding new avenues and enterprises in tune with changing times.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, it gives him immense pleasure that MSME Ministry has set a target to enhance its contribution to GDP up to 50% by 2025 as India becomes a $5 trillion economy. He said, with around 36.1 million units, MSMEs contribute around 6.11% of the manufacturing GDP and 24.63% of the GDP from service activities. Moreover, it is the second largest employment generating sector after agriculture as it provides employment to around 120 million persons in India.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, MSMEs constitute over 90% of total enterprises in most of the economies and are credited with generating the highest rates of employment growth. He said, with low investment requirements, operational flexibility and the capacity to develop appropriate indigenous technology, Small and Medium Enterprises have the power to propel India to new heights.

Referring to the huge unexplored business opportunities in Bamboo sector, Dr Jitendra Singh said, a path-breaking decision was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to exempt home grown bamboo from the purview of the 100-year-old Indian Forest Act, which helped in bringing ease of doing business in the bamboo sector for the young entrepreneurs. He also pointed out that by increasing the import duty on bamboo sticks/ Agarbatti from 10% to 25%, the domestic Agarbatti manufacturing got a huge boost as nearly 5 to 6 thousand crores of Agarbatti was imported every year from countries like Korea, Vietnam and China. But, there has been no import of raw batti since September 2019 and local bamboo produce is being used for this, he added.

Dr Jitendra Singh reiterated that many Start-Up avenues of self-employment are more lucrative than government jobs and the need is only to change the mind-set which is inclined to prefer a small-time government job with a meagre salary instead of a self-employed Start Up initiative which could comparatively beget manifold returns from the beginning itself.

The Minister said, many Agri Start-Ups through suitable use of Science and Technology are not only providing lucrative livelihood for themselves but also for their peers. Referring to the clarion call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for doubling the farmer’s income by 2022, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the focus of agricultural and allied sectors, and researchers should be on productivity rather than production.

Indian startup ecosystem has the potential & promise to make India the Innovation & Invention hub of the world

Posted on by Business So Simple in Entrepreneurship, Science & Technology, Startups

Indian startup ecosystem has the potential & promise to make India the Innovation & Invention hub of the world: Shri Piyush Goyal


In 75 weeks of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, NSAC should facilitate 75 startups to become unicorns by the 75th Independence Day: Shri Goyal

Tier II & Tier III cities to be the backbone of Start up revolution and catalyze employment generation with strengthen forward & backward linkages.- Shri Goyal

21 unicorns in last 6 months inspire all to Dream Big & Achieve Bigger – Shri Goyal

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal chairs a meeting of “National Startup Advisory Council

Government is committed to cut red tape, improve “Ease of Doing Business” , provide financial assistance through Startup seed fund, supporting incubators, enhancing skills- Shri Goyal

Ministry of Commerce & Industry Press Release dated 16 Aug 2021

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal chaired the virtual meeting of  “National Startup Advisory Council here today. While addressing the meeting, the Minister said that implementation of ideas of Financing, Mentorship, Taxation etc. will enable us to strengthen our startup ecosystem further. He said our startup ecosystem is a reflection of our youth’s Energy, Enthusiasm and Agility and Startup India movement has brought a ‘change in mindset’ from ‘can do’ to ‘will do’. 

In his address, he said that our startup ecosystem has the potential & promise to make India the Innovation & Invention   hub of the world and National Startup Advisory Council on AC has been working tirelessly to pave the way  forward for budding Startup Entrepreneurs in India. Shri Goyal said that NSAC will nurture Startups to aim for higher Competitiveness & make India the Startup Capital.  He urged that in the 75 weeks of Azadi ke Amrit Mahotsav, NSAC should facilitate 75 startups to become unicorns by the 75th Independence Day. He further added that the Prime Minister’s mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas aur Sabka Prayas’ finds resonance with our startups. He said our aim is to make ‘Startup India’ a symbol of National Participation & National Consciousness. 

In this age of COVID-19, when everyone is overcoming severe stress, he said that he was happy to see the resilience & ‘never say die’ spirit of our startup ecosystem. The Minister said the 21st century is the ‘Century of Startups’ & with our   Startups it is the ‘Century of India’. He said 21 unicorns in last 6 months inspire all to Dream Big &  Achieve Bigger. With nearly 60 unicorns, India has one of the largest startup stable in the entire world.  

The Minister urges to start a STARTUP revolution, he said with NEP 2020, schools will now sow the seeds of      startup ideas at a young age. He said youth are job creators of tomorrow and drivers of innovation & leaders of 4th Industrial Revolution. Shri Goyal said that he wanted to see new startups emerge across India especially in Tier II & Tier III cities. He said, this will catalyze employment generation & strengthen forward & backward linkages.

Shri Goyal asked DPIIT to now act as a ‘Facilitator’ with Open doors, Open Arms & Open Mind. He said that Government is committed to cut red tape, improve Ease of Doing Business  provide financial assistance through Startup seed  fund, supporting incubators, enhancing skills and this holistic approach has intended to resolve the issues relating to capital mobilization, support innovation with tinkering labs, & meet the capacity &  capability requirements of startups. 

He said today, our vision expands beyond the traditional models of growth, our aim is to create a New India i.e. an Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Startups are the key to building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat with Courage, Collaboration & Commitment and to achieve such an ambitious target we need a participative approach from all stakeholders. He said Industry must help create Startup Superstars by identifying innovators & investing in talent. 

 Our aim must be to make our startups grow beyond our   geographical boundaries & create global impact .

The meeting was attended by top stake holders, officials  and existing  start ups in the country. Some of them include Shri M.R. Kumar, Chairman, LIC; Shri R.S. Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority; Shri Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital; Shri Ritesh Agarwal, Founder, OYO Rooms; Shri Manoj Kohli, Country Head, Softbank India; Shri Abhiraj Bhal, Co-founder, UrbanCompany; Shri Kunal Bahl, Co-founder, Snapdeal; Shri Vineet Aggarwal, President, ASSOCHAM; Shri Sanjeev Bhikchandani, Co-founder, InfoEdge; Shri Mohandas Pai, Co-founder & Chairman, Aarin Capital; Shri Prashant Prakash, Partner, Accel Partners; Smt. Anjali Bansal, Founder, Avaana Capital; Shri Sharad Sharma, Founder, iSpirt; Smt. Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM

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Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)

Posted on by Business So Simple in Entrepreneurship, Science & Technology, Startups

Shri Piyush Goyal chaired Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)


Move to democratise digital commerce & move it from platform-centric model to an open-network model

Success story of platform independent protocols like UPI to be replicated to provide alternatives to propriety e-commerce sites and create mechanisms to connect buyers and sellers

Merchants will be able to save their data under ONDC to build credit history and reach consumers

Go ahead for rapid development and deployment of ONDC

The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Piyush Goyal today chaired a meeting for the review of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) initiative of DPIIT. Shri Goyal deliberated with the members of the advisory council& experts on how the initiative will democratise digital commerce & move it from platform-centric model to an open-network model.The advisory council includes Shri R.S. Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority, Shri Nandan M. Nilekani, non-executive Chairman of Infosys, Shri Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, QCI and Capacity Building Commission, Ms Anjali Bansal, Founder & Chairperson, Avaana Capital, Shri Arvind Gupta, Co-founder & Head, Digital India Foundation, Shri DilipAsbe, MD & CEO, NPCI, Shri Suresh Sethi, MD & CEO, NSDL, Shri Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary-General, Confederation of All India Traders and Shri Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailer Association of India.

While reviewing the progress, the Minister said that ONDC will work for everything and not just limited to products but also services. Shri Goyal suggested that some guidelines or basic infrastructure, size, ethics and principles should be there. Shri Goyal further added that security and data privacy and confidentiality must be ensured. He said that this willcreate new opportunities and remove monopolistic environments.

It may be noted, Open Network for Digital Commerce christened ONDC is globally first-of-its-kind initiative that aims to democratise Digital Commerce, moving it from a platform-centric model to an open-network. As UPI is to the digital payment domain, ONDC is to  e-commerce in India. ONDC will enable, buyers and sellers to be digitally visible and transact through an open network. no matter what platform/application they use. ONDC will empower merchants and consumers by breaking silos to form a single network to drive innovation and scale, transforming all businesses from retail goods, food to mobility

Advisory Council was constituted on July 5 and its first meeting was convened on July 16, 2021.The Advisory Council adopted its role to guide and mentor design, implementation and national rollout of ONDC in addition to the scope of the erstwhile Steering Committee. The Advisory Council discussed the key design elements national rollout. Its recommendations have been incorporated in the implementation plan developed.

ONDC shall take all measures to ensure confidentiality & privacy of data in the network

            – ONDC shall not mandate sharing of any transaction-level data by participants  with ONDC.

– ONDC will work with its participants to publish anonymised aggregate metrics on network performance without compromising on confidentiality and privacy

            – ONDC will be compliant with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and designed for compliance with the emerging Personal Data Protection Bill.

In addition to establishing ONDC to manage the Open Network the Government may consider establishing an Independent Regulatory Authority for eCommerce (such as SEBI for Capital Market).

ONDC shall initially give special attention help onboard small and medium players. ONDC to plan for a well developed Information, Education & Communication campaign to educate, encourage and to address any apprehensions of various network participants. ONDC should evolve over time as a self-sustaining entity generating income for its operations and surplus for continuous investment in technology, processes and network development. This is very workable option considering the significant benefits it will extend to the ecosystem players

Chaired a meeting of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

Deliberated with the members of the board & experts on how the initiative will democratise digital commerce & move it from platform-centric model to an open-network model. pic.twitter.com/RQLQFaGUjm— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) August 13, 2021

Ministry of Commerce & Industry Press Release dated 13 Aug 2021