Amazon, Karnataka ink pact for women entrepreneurs’ products

Ecommerce giant Amazon on Saturday inked an agreement with the Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (KSRLPS) to provide a market for products of women entrepreneurs and self-help groups.

This partnership is expected to benefit 30,000 women entrepreneurs whose products in the categories of grocery, home decor, clothing, and others will be made available to Amazon customers across India.

The agreement was inked in the presence of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and senior Amazon representatives.

Initially, 53 products, including Lambani bags, have been onboarded in the Amazon marketplace. The plan is to expand this to 200 before the end of current fiscal.

Amazon India will not only launch KSRLPS, also known as Sanjeevini, on its marketplace, but also extend the benefits of its ‘Saheli’ program to train and empower thousands of women entrepreneurs to come online and access a wider market for their products, according to a release.

The KSRLPS will set up a warehouse (Saheli Centre) in the Mysugar Building initially to manage the operations and later expand to district-level operations based on sales or demand.

“What I want is a success story to come out of this,” Bommai told Amazon India vice-president (public policy) Chetan Krishnaswamy and others at an event where the memorandum of understanding was signed. “The advantage Amazon has should reach poor people and self-help groups. And, if there’s a market I assure you that our financial institutions and government won’t lag behind in supporting our people,” he said.

Bommai said Karnataka’s per-capita income represents only 30% of citizens who are mostly salaried or business class. “Our vision is that at least half of the remaining 70% should be elevated so that they contribute to the per-capita income,” he said, adding that poverty is “an enemy of the state that should be confronted and defeated”.

The CM said he is working on new schemes to help products from local businesses and entrepreneurs get national visibility. “Sarees from Ilkal, Molkalmuru, Sidlaghatta, or the Channapatna toys and the Shahabad stone...we’re coming out with schemes. The next Budget will also have programmes for self-help groups,” he said.

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