Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday, 7 July 2026, described the launch of the Indonesia Open Network — modelled on the architecture of India's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) — as 'an incredibly proud moment for India' and a significant milestone in bilateral ties with Indonesia.

Context

Posting on X, Minister Goyal said India's digital public infrastructure has become 'a blueprint for building open, inclusive and trusted digital economies across the world.' He framed the Indonesia Open Network not as a mere platform export but as 'a reflection of India's commitment to democratising e-commerce by empowering every buyer and seller through a fair and inclusive way.'

The minister credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'visionary leadership' for positioning India's digital public infrastructure as a global model, adding that the development would 'strengthen Indonesia's digital commerce journey as well.'

Policy Backdrop

ONDC was piloted in 2022 by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce to create an interoperable, platform-agnostic e-commerce network. Its core objective is to reduce the dominance of large aggregator platforms and provide fair market access to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

India has systematically promoted its Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) stack — which includes Aadhaar, UPI, and ONDC — as open-source public goods to partner nations, particularly in the Global South. This approach has come to be recognised as a form of technology diplomacy that strengthens bilateral economic ties outside traditional aid frameworks.

Indonesia, a key ASEAN partner, becomes among the first countries to adapt the ONDC architecture for its own national digital commerce infrastructure, signalling growing appetite for India-origin DPI models in Southeast Asia.

Stakeholders and Impact

For Indian MSMEs and technology developers, the Indonesia adoption validates ONDC's scalability and global relevance beyond domestic use cases. It opens potential pathways for Indian fintech and commerce-technology firms to participate in Indonesia's expanding digital economy.

On the Indonesian side, the open-network model promises to give smaller sellers and buyers access to a fair digital marketplace, mirroring the democratisation goals ONDC set out to achieve in India. Indonesian digital commerce users — in a market of over 270 million people — stand to benefit from increased competition and reduced platform dependency.

The development also carries diplomatic weight, reinforcing the India-Indonesia bilateral relationship at a time when both nations are deepening engagement on trade, technology, and connectivity under broader India-ASEAN frameworks.

What's Next

Observers will watch closely for adoption metrics on the Indonesia Open Network — including the number of sellers onboarded and transaction volumes — as an early indicator of whether the ONDC model translates effectively to a different regulatory and market environment.

Any follow-on provisions in India-ASEAN or India-Indonesia bilateral trade agreements that reference digital commerce interoperability could further institutionalise this DPI export model. India's success in Indonesia may also encourage other Global South economies to explore similar adoptions, cementing the country's role as a provider of open digital infrastructure rather than a consumer of proprietary foreign platforms.