Flipkart, Walmart ink MoU with NSIC to speed up capacity creation for MSMEs

BUSINESS DESK: Homegrown e-commerce brand Flipkart and its parent, US retailer Walmart, have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) to jointly accelerate capacity building for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across India.

The partners also seek to support MSMEs in their quest to become part of local and global retail supply chains.

The MoU was signed at the Walmart Vriddhi Seller Summit in New Delhi, an event that marked the completion of training by 20,000 MSMEs under the Walmart Vriddhi Supplier Development Program (Walmart Vriddhi).

“Walmart has been instrumental in enabling MSMEs with training and capacity building, especially during the pandemic period. The Indian MSME sector currently has 63 million enterprises that employ more than 110 million people. We look forward to Walmart’s continued support to the growing MSME sector in the country,” said Narayan Rane, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises of India, while addressing the event.

Gaurang Dixit, Chairman-Cum-Managing Director, at NSIC, said that through this partnership, MSMEs across India would be able get the support required to expand their businesses nationally and across the globe.

“NSIC is committed to the growth and development of a robust MSME sector in India. We look forward to working with Walmart Vriddhi to help MSMEs under the programme access our schemes and make Vriddhi’s learning resources available to MSMEs under NSIC,” he added.

The tie-up with NSIC will enable more small businesses and entrepreneurs across India to access the Vriddhi initiative, which offers a complete learning platform with free-of-cost training and access to expert assistance required to grow their businesses.

The Vriddhi programme includes training, seminars and mentoring sessions conducted regularly for MSMEs.

“With our ongoing commitment to triple exports from India by 2027 to $10 billion annually, we look forward to supporting more small businesses in their efforts by providing potential access to online and offline markets in India and abroad,” said Jason Fremstad, Senior Vice President-Supplier Development, Walmart.

Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Flipkart Group, said technology and innovation will play a key role in the growth of small businesses in India.

“With that mission, our efforts are focused on helping them digitise their business and explore growth opportunities via e-commerce. We are delighted to continue to deepen our engagement with NSIC through this MoU and expand opportunities to small businesses, artisans, weavers across India,” he said. (Business Standard)