Amazon India has signed four Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Government of Himachal Pradesh to enable sellers, MSMEs, artisans, weavers and SMBs from the state to benefit through e-commerce.
The four MoUs signed include tie-ups with Himachal Pradesh State Handicrafts & Handloom Corporation Limited (HIMCRAFTS) and Himachal Pradesh State Handlooms & Handicrafts Development Cooperative Federation (HIMBUNKAR) to enable handlooms sellers and artisans to sell on Amazon.in; tie-up with Himachal Pradesh Department of Industries to conduct workshops to enable MSME exporters to export their products and reach out to millions of our customers across 90+ countries through Amazon Global Selling Program; and Himachal Pradesh Department of Horticulture to source local to support the development of inclusive and competitive agricultural value chains over the long-term.
As part of the MoU with HIMCRAFTS and HIMBUNKAR, Amazon India will educate, train & enable weavers and artisans to directly sell their products to Amazon customers across the country. The partnerships will further help elevate popular handloom products from clusters such as Manali, Sainj, Ropa and Sera which have tremendous potential and demand in urban areas. The unique product portfolio will include shawls, pullan, footwear, jewellery, handicraft woven on handlooms as well as woodcraft, leather, embroidery, carpets of Tibetan pattern artistically stitched rumals and shawls of chamba, decorative wooden pieces, grass shoes, Himachali caps, among others.
As part of the MoU with Department of Industries, Government of Himachal Pradesh, Amazon India will conduct trainings and on-boarding workshops at pre-identified product cluster locations of Baddi, Solan, and Shimla, in order to familiarize MSME Exporters with creating a seller account and listing their products on Amazon.com. Through this partnership, unique products exported by MSMEs of Himachal Pradesh will become easily available to millions of overseas loyal Amazon customers, thus strengthening and expanding their reach and helping take Made in India to global audiences. All products listed by MSME Exporters will be searchable on Amazon.com.
Himachal Pradesh is predominately an agricultural State where Agriculture provides direct employment to about 71 percent of the total population. The Agriculture sector contributes nearly 30 percent of the total state domestic product. The MoU signed by Amazon with Department of Horticulture, Government of Himachal Pradesh to empower Community Based Organizations such as Farmer Producer Organisations, cluster level federations and primary agriculture cooperative societies will benefit through e-commerce.
Amazon.in has close to 2000 sellers in Himachal Pradesh out of which close to 100 sellers export over 37,000 ‘Made in India’ products across the world registering sales of over $33 million in 2019 through Amazon’s Global Selling Program Amazon is serving close to 10% of Himachal Pradesh population, receives lakhs of orders per month from the state Amazon has 25 delivery stations and over 50 I Have Space stores which has created 500+ indirect employment opportunities in Himachal Pradesh. Amazon will quadruple ‘I Have Space’ Stores from 50+ today to 200 + by 2024. Amit Agarwal, SVP & Country Manager, Amazon India said, “We see a catalyst role for us in three key areas – jobs, MSME empowerment and Exports. Our four different MoUs signed with the Government of Himachal Pradesh will help us play a significant role in addressing those areas and empower the local community of women entrepreneurs, artisans and weavers, MSMEs and SMBs. We are excited that our efforts are meaningfully impacting the Digital Bharat vision and contributing to the economic flywheel of India.”
Gopal Pillai, Vice President, Seller Services, Amazon India said, “The Amazon marketplace has become a unique place for Indian artisans and entrepreneurs to scale for national & global markets, especially through programs such as Amazon Karigar and Amazon Saheli that have positively impacted lives over a million entrepreneurs that include weavers, artisans and women entrepreneurs. With close to 2000 Sellers from Himachal Pradesh who are building their businesses by listing and selling their products in India on Amazon.in and globally on Amazon.com, and with more sellers to be added now with the signing of four MoUs with Government of Himachal Pradesh, we will continue to take an active role in helping interested entrepreneurs from the state to launch their own businesses and help them reach out to millions of Amazon customers from across the world.”
About Himachal Pradesh State Handicrafts & Handloom Corporation Limited
Himachal Pradesh State Handicrafts & Handloom Corporation Limited (An H.P. State Government Undertaking) came into being in the year 1974 with the objective to assist and promote the interests of the poor weavers and artisans of the state. The Corporation ensures the overall welfare of artisans and weavers by imparting training, design inputs, raw material, reviving the languishing crafts and providing them marketing facilities through its chain of emporia located within and outside the state. Apace with changing trends and preferences the Corporation plays the key role in evolving new designs through the designers appointed from NIFT with the financial assistance and support of the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
