BackPortal launched to promote digitized payments for traders
The portal's launch follows the government's Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana which aims to reduce borrowing costs for small businesses
Premium
New Delhi: The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Monday launched e-lala, an e-commerce portal to promote business-to-business and trader-to-customer transactions within a city. The move, which cuts costs and moves transactions online, aims to help around 57 million small businesses across the country.
A pilot of the portal was launched in Nagpur on 5 November.
The portal’s launch follows the central government’s Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, launched in April, which aims to reduce borrowing costs for small businesses by providing refinancing at a relatively low 7% rate of interest.
The government has asked banks to lend ₹ 1.22 trillion under the scheme by the end of the current fiscal year to small-scale entrepreneurs. These businesses account for nearly 45% of the country’s gross domestic product across manufacturing, services and trade.
E-lala will enable small businesses, including artisans, to display their products online through virtual stores. This city-based portal with involvement of only local traders will promote unique products of each city and consumers can post enquiries.
Inaugurating the event, urban development minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said that the portal will enable small traders with outreach and help them devise marketing strategies to counter the growing competition from e-commerce platforms.
He added that the number of people shopping online in the country is expected to increase from 34 million in 2014 to 100 million in 2016 and that e-commerce business has grown from ₹ 3,600 crore in 2011 to ₹ 53,000 crore in 2015.
CAIT also announced an education and training partnership in association with MasterCard and HDFC Bank Ltd to promote digitization of payments for traders. Through a series of training sessions across the country, adoption of the latest payment technologies and solutions will be encouraged.
“Through the ‘Master Your Card’ programme, the plan is to inform traders about the benefits of electronic trainings and show how it can be used to expand business," said Porush Singh, division president (south Asia) and country corporate officer (India), MasterCard.
PTI contributed to this story.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
