Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) represents India’s attempt to redesign the architecture of digital commerce through an open and interoperable network model rather than traditional platform-centric marketplaces. Positioned as a core pillar of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) ecosystem alongside Aadhaar and UPI, ONDC seeks to reduce platform dependency, expand MSME participation, and democratize digital market access through open protocols and interoperable commerce infrastructure. What began as a pilot initiative has evolved into a national-scale commerce network spanning retail, mobility, logistics, financial services, and B2B trade enablement. The initiative reflects a broader policy shift toward infrastructure-led market development, where interoperability, decentralization, and inclusion are viewed as mechanisms to improve competition, expand digital participation, and integrate underserved businesses into the formal digital economy.
Key Highlights
- ONDC was conceptualized as a structural response to the concentration of India’s e-commerce ecosystem, where a small number of platforms controlled a dominant share of the digital commerce market.
- The network expanded rapidly from pilot operations in Bengaluru and Delhi to more than 1,300 cities nationwide, processing over 1.3 crore monthly transactions by 2025.
- The Ministry of MSME continued expanding the MSME-TEAM Initiative during 2026 to onboard five lakh MSMEs onto the ONDC network while supporting catalogue digitisation, packaging, onboarding assistance, and logistics enablement.
- ONDC increasingly represents a broader transformation in India’s digital economy strategy, shifting from platform-centric commerce toward open, interoperable, and infrastructure-led digital market systems.
About The Author
Ankur Malhotra
Ankur is a research and knowledge leader with 20+ years of experience in business and financial research, serving clients across investment banking, consulting, accounting, and advisory. He has expertise in establishing global knowledge centers, delivering business intelligence solutions, and driving thought leadership. Before joining HBGTM Insights, Ankur worked with Forvis Mazars, Korn Ferry, and was part of the founding team of Acuity Knowledge Partners. He is a CFA charterholder from ICFAI, Hyderabad, and a graduate of Delhi University.
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