The Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with e-commerce giant Flipkart to promote the State's arts, crafts and handloom sectors by bringing them into the e-commerce fold.
The partnership, under the Flipkart Samarth programme, will enable local artisans, weavers, and craftsmen from the 13 districts of the State to showcase their hallmark products to a pan-India customer base. The focus will be on creating avenues to increase business and trade, and opportunities for the underserved segments of the society, thereby adding further thrust to ‘Made in India’ efforts.
Flipkart Samarth seeks to break entry barriers for artisans by extending time-bound incubation support, which includes benefits in the form of onboarding, free cataloguing, marketing, account management, business insights and warehousing support.
MD & CEO, APSSDC, Arja Srikanth said the collaboration will help all producers like artisans and FPOs from remotest places in Andhra Pradesh in seamless marketing of their products in relevant markets.
“Andhra Pradesh has always been at the forefront of economic growth and currently leads the charts when it comes to Ease of Doing Business. We are thrilled to partner with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to give the State’s artisans the opportunity to showcase and sell their products on a transparent platform; with a promise of wider market access,” said Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Flipkart Group.
He said with technology acting as a catalyst, the e-commerce store would build an ecosystem of partnerships.
In a year since its launch, Flipkart Samarth has been supporting the livelihood of more than 5,00,000 artisans, weavers and micro enterprises across India. Flipkart Samarth works closely with reputed NGOs and government bodies and livelihood missions to reach a large number of rural entrepreneurs, with a special focus on women-led enterprises, differently-abled entrepreneurs, artisans, and weavers.
The government in the State has established the Department of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (DSDEI) to coordinate and synergize skilling efforts of all departments. Under this department, the APSSDC was formed which today has more than 16 lakh students registered and it has skilled over 9 lakh young professionals, sending them into the formal workforce.
