CM Bhajanlal Sharma backs ONDC as UPI moment for digital trade
Synopsis
Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma addressed the ONDC-DigiDukaan trade conference in Jaipur on 20 June 2026, likening ONDC's potential to transform digital commerce to the revolution UPI brought to digital payments, as Rajasthan pushes to onboard local traders onto the open e-commerce network.
Key Takeaways
CM Bhajanlal Sharma addressed the ONDC-DigiDukaan Launch Jaipur trade conference on 20 June 2026 .
He drew a direct parallel between UPI 's revolution in digital payments and ONDC 's role in strengthening digital trade.
ONDC was launched by DPIIT in 2022 as an open, interoperable alternative to private e-commerce platforms.
Rajasthan integrated ONDC into its state MSME and IT policies in 2023-24 , targeting kirana stores, artisans, and small vendors.
The DigiDukaan initiative is the state-level mechanism to onboard local traders onto the ONDC network.
Key metrics to watch include seller registration numbers and any state budget linkages to DigiDukaan participation.
Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma addressed the ONDC-DigiDukaan Launch Jaipur vyaparik sammelan (trade conference) in Jaipur on Saturday, 20 June 2026, drawing a direct parallel between the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) revolution in digital payments and the transformative potential of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) for small traders across Rajasthan.
Context
Addressing the gathering, CM Sharma stated that 'just as UPI brought a revolution in the field of digital payments, ONDC is similarly strengthening digital trade.' The remark positions ONDC not as a niche government portal but as a structural shift in how India's small sellers access online markets — echoing the language used when UPI was scaled nationally after 2016.
The event, held under the hashtag #आपणो_अग्रणी_राजस्थान ('Our Leading Rajasthan'), forms part of the state government's broader push to align Rajasthan's trader ecosystem with central digital public infrastructure.
Policy Backdrop
ONDC was formally launched by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Government of India in 2022 as an open, interoperable e-commerce network — designed to break the dominance of large private platforms by allowing any buyer or seller app to transact across a shared protocol.
Rajasthan integrated the national ONDC framework into its MSME and IT policies during 2023-24, with a focus on onboarding local kirana stores, artisans, and small vendors who had historically been excluded from organised e-commerce. The DigiDukaan initiative represents the state-level vehicle for that onboarding effort, bringing the ONDC network directly to Jaipur's trading community.
Stakeholders and Impact
The primary beneficiaries of ONDC expansion are small traders, micro and small enterprises (MSMEs), and local vendors who currently lack the capital or technical capacity to list on dominant private e-commerce platforms. By operating on an open protocol, ONDC allows sellers to be discovered across multiple buyer-facing apps without paying platform-specific commissions.
India's experience with UPI — which processed over 100 billion transactions in a single year at its peak — provides the template CM Sharma invoked. Analysts watching the ONDC rollout will track how many Rajasthan-based sellers are onboarded across districts, and whether the state links DigiDukaan participation to existing credit or subsidy schemes for MSMEs.
What's Next
The Jaipur launch marks a visible political commitment by the Bhajanlal Sharma government to digital commerce as an economic priority, consistent with the 'Aapno Agranii Rajasthan' (Our Leading Rajasthan) branding. The practical test will come in the months ahead, as seller registration numbers, transaction volumes, and district-level penetration data emerge from the DigiDukaan programme.
Should the state announce budget linkages — such as subsidised onboarding support or working-capital credit tied to ONDC participation — Rajasthan could become a reference model for how state governments operationalise central open-commerce infrastructure at scale.
Point of View
Aligning Rajasthan's identity with India's most successful digital public good. The 'Aapno Agranii Rajasthan' branding reinforces this, casting the BJP-led state government as an active driver of economic modernisation rather than a passive recipient of Delhi's schemes. More broadly, the event reflects a pattern in which state governments are competing to be early and visible adopters of ONDC, recognising that digital commerce access for small traders is both a governance priority and an electoral asset. The real credibility test, however, will be in the rollout numbers — how many traders actually transact on ONDC, and whether the platform delivers the commission-free scale its architects promised.
NationPress
20 Jun 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ONDC and how does it help small traders in India?
ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) is a Government of India initiative launched by DPIIT in 2022 that creates an open, interoperable e-commerce network, allowing small traders and MSMEs to sell online without being locked into a single private platform or paying heavy commissions.
What is DigiDukaan and what was launched in Jaipur?
DigiDukaan is the state-level initiative in Rajasthan to onboard local traders onto the ONDC network. The ONDC-DigiDukaan Launch Jaipur trade conference, addressed by CM Bhajanlal Sharma on 20 June 2026 , marked a formal push to bring Jaipur's trading community onto the open digital commerce platform.
Why did CM Bhajanlal Sharma compare ONDC to UPI?
CM Sharma compared ONDC to UPI to illustrate the scale of transformation possible — just as UPI democratised digital payments for millions of Indians, ONDC aims to democratise access to e-commerce for small sellers and kirana stores who previously could not afford to list on large private platforms.
How has Rajasthan integrated ONDC into its policies?
Rajasthan incorporated the national ONDC framework into its state MSME and IT policies during 2023-24 , with a focus on onboarding local kirana stores, artisans, and small vendors through the DigiDukaan programme.
What should we watch for in Rajasthan's ONDC rollout?
Key indicators to monitor include the number of sellers registered on ONDC across Rajasthan's districts, transaction volumes on the DigiDukaan platform, and any state budget announcements linking DigiDukaan onboarding to credit or subsidy schemes for small traders.
