Flipkart and Uttar Pradesh Khadi & Village Industries Board sign MoU

Flipkart and Uttar Pradesh Khadi & Village Industries Board sign MoU

• MoU signed in the presence of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath

• Initiative to help bring online thousands of Khadi weavers and craftsmen from U.P.

• Flipkart Samarth to help with 6 months incubation support to help them set up a thriving business on the Flipkart Marketplace

 Flipkart, India’s leading e-commerce marketplace, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Uttar Pradesh Khadi & Village Industries Board (UPKVIB) as part of the Flipkart ‘Samarth’ initiative. Flipkart Samarth is aimed at enabling artisans, weavers, and craftsmen from diverse backgrounds and rural parts of the country to set up their business on Flipkart.

As part of the Samarth program, 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 Govt. of Uttar Pradesh 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.

The MoU was signed in Lucknow between Dr. Navneet Sehgal, IAS, CEO of UPKVIB, and Shri. Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of the Flipkart Group. The MoU was signed in the presence of the hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri. Yogi Adityanath.

Commenting on the development, Dr. Navneet Sehgal of UPKVIB said, “The skills of our artisans, weavers and craftsmen are passed on over generations and, due to e-commerce, the current generation has great opportunities to market their products across India and make a better living. Equally, it’s an excellent way for our fellow Indians across the country to discover the beauty and variety of traditional Khadi apparel, handicrafts and village industries products. 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.”

Flipkart’s Rajneesh Kumar said, “E-commerce is a powerful driver for inclusive socio-economic growth, and we are glad to be able to demonstrate that through our Flipkart Samarth initiative. We are thankful to the Govt. of Uttar Pradesh for collaborating with us to bring online the community of Khadi and village industries artisans in U.P. We hope that it will help more communities to break social and demographic barriers and access our growing pan-India customer base to showcase their products.”