NCUI building world’s first e-commerce co-op portal; ropes in NITCON

In a paradigm shift from a co-op training body to an agency for co-op marketing, the National Cooperative Union of India has tied up with NITCON, a PSU under the Ministry of Finance, to lend necessary expertise to co-ops in the field of marketing and business ideas.

Talking to the Indian Cooperative NCUI Chief Executive Sudhir Mahajan explains “This is aimed at achieving the goal of prosperity through cooperatives (Sahakar Se Samriddhi) as envisioned both by the Prime Minister and the Union Ministry of Cooperation.”

NCUI has already a Cooperative Development Entrepreneur Cell in place for the purpose, stated Mahajan. The e-commerce platform will offer a global platform to co-op products made by our artisans and co-operative workers, he said.

The idea sprang from the experience of NCUI Haat currently doing a brisk business from the campus of the NCUI headquarters in the posh South Delhi. The Haat has done a business of more than Rs 2 crores in one and a half years.

There came a point when we felt that these co-op artisans do deserve a bigger platform not only domestically but also globally. It was then that we tied up with NITCON to help us build a customized e-commerce portal, the first in the cooperative sector, underlined Mahajan.

Enthusiastic about the development, Mahajan was confident that the first roll out of the portal will take place in the next 6 months. We have asked them to first upload products of Delhi and NCR. The early experiences would prepare us for going the whole hog and achieving our goal , he said.

Mahajan is however aware of glitches before the idea comes to fruition.There are issues of logistics, godwons, etc. “We aim to take onboard not only small co-ops spread in far flung areas but also the big ones such as Amul, IFFCO and Kribhco”, said Mahajan underlining that all these call for huge efforts.

The CE is however confident due to his experience with the NCUI Haat where small co-ops of the North east to co-ops from Punjab and Haryana, all gathered at a point to showcase their stuff. Besides getting exposure to the Delhi market, these co-ops also had a chance to impress each other, which means stuff from Meghalaya co-ops may find a market in Punjab through the Punjab co-ops present in the Haat and Vice Versa.

NCUI has indeed done a commendable job so far as helping co-op artisans at the NCUI Haat is concerned. Besides offering free space to them, it has also met all their other expenses including their travelling costs from remote areas to the national capital.

“This was our experimental laboratory”, explains Mahajan. It was from here that we have conceived bigger ideas of onboarding them on a global e-commerce platform, said Mahajan who was instrumental in organizing several co-op fairs in the state as well.

Broad Areas of Cooperation between NCUI and NITCON envisages facilitating interaction amongst the artisans of cooperative societies to understand and plan for enhancement of livelihood of cooperative members.

Also, promoting the products of SHGs and cooperatives on Media including, print, digital, social media, events or any other model of promotions and develop marketing collaterals, brand promotions, creative developments etc and organizing and facilitating vocational/ skill development/ entrepreneurship development training programs for empowering artisans and members of SHGs and cooperatives at the Incubation Centre of NCUI.

The above areas of co-operation are indicative only and may be expanded or curtailed through mutual consultation, reads the MoU.