Indian crafts, weaves and others will now be on sale on Flipkart, as a part of its new initiative

• Flipkart has launched a new programme called Flipkart Samarth for Indian artisans, weavers and craftsmen.
• Through this initiative, Flipkart will bring products made by Indian rural artisans on its platform.
• Amazon already has a similar programme called Kala Haat.

Walmart-owned Flipkart today announced a new initiative called ‘Samarth’ to help Indian artisans, weavers and craftsmen to bring their products on the e-commerce platform.

In order to push forward Indian SMEs, e-commerce platforms have been signing up to promote artisans and weavers. Amazon has a similar programme called Kala Haat, where it promotes artisans in the textile industry who are helping revive age old crafts.

Through this initiative, Flipkart hopes to open new market access for over 1.3 crore (millions pls) rural artisans. Flipkart Samarth will also work with NGOs and government bodies to reach out to entrepreneurs and will have a special focus on women-led enterprises, differently-abled entrepreneurs, artisans, and weavers.

It will help the artisans who otherwise face multiple challenges from the lack of funding to lack of new markets.

The initiative was launched by Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Flipkart CEO and Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State, Finance & Corporate Affairs, in the national capital.

“As a homegrown company, we are constantly innovating to find new ways to use e-commerce to uplift and empower all sections of society, especially MSMEs. These small businesses are the backbone of Indian economy, going back centuries. Through ‘Flipkart Samarth,’ we are helping traditionally underserved communities access a pan-India market and engage with over 150 million customers,” said Krishnamurthy.

Thakur meanwhile spoke about the opportunities Indian e-commerce brings to the country’s economy. He said that e-commerce is set to create a million jobs in India by 2025. The initiative Flipkart Samarth is aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s One District One Product vision in Uttar Pradesh - which gives information about handpicked products from each district in the state.