Since Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 started on January 13, over 4.3 million devotees have visited Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh to take a dip in the Triveni Sangam. By the end of the 44-day Mela on February 26, another million are expected to arrive in the pilgrim city. And while that is a huge number, it pales in comparison to the number of devotees unable to make the journey and yet wanting to somehow partake in the once-in-144-years celestial alignment.
(It should come as no surprise then that Maha Kumbh Mela live streams have been trending for days, even as a steady stream of VIPs and dignitaries—Indian President Droupadi Murmu, Coldplay, Bhutan king Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, and on Magh Ashtami on February 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi—too have been making a beeline for the Sangam.)
Anticipating this demand some months before the Maha Kumbh began on Paush Purnima (January 13, 2025), Open Network for Digital Commerce or ONDC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer T. Koshy found himself looking over a proposal that he would eventually decide to support.
The proposal, submitted by a seller application on ONDC called WAAYU, was to take Maha Kumbh prasad to people across the country. "For India, spirituality is a very critical segment. A lot of individuals would like to have access to spirituality related products and services. And we believe that the open network is not just about consumer goods or food, it's about every product," Koshy explains over a video call with Moneycontrol.
But first ONDC encouraged WAAYU to gather proof of concept (PoC). To this end, WAAYU made provisions to deliver Ayodhya temple prasad to different parts of the country. Koshy says that while the volumes were "minor" compared with what the Maha Kumbh would entail, it gave the team confidence to greenlight the idea.
WAAYU worked out the logistics, connecting with the approved producers near Bade Hanuman Ji Mandir in Prayagraj to source the prasad and delivery partners like Delhivery, Indiapost, Shiprocket, Bluedart to transport it. Buyer apps like Mystore and PayTM, Koshy adds, saw this as an additional and timely SKU to offer to buyers on their platforms. Thus closing the loop, from discovery to delivery.
"Since anyway WAAYU had a seller application, they went seriously and talked to this temple (Ayodhya) to do a PoC. They looked at two things; one is, they got the right to be the one onboarding the seller. The temple trusts—in Ayodhya, in Prayagraj, etc.—have some standard vendors who make the prasad available locally (also) if you go there. (WAAYU) have also made arrangements for their (the approved vendor's) catalogue to be available," Koshy says. "WAAYU also made the necessary arrangement with the logistic partners. While technically logistics is available on the ONDC network, WAAYU said that it's such a short time to get all the tie-in locally. And because they were already in this business, they tied up with multiple entities like Delhivery, etc., for intercity transaction and they also identified the logistics people to deliver in the local town. They took the responsibility of sourcing the prasadam as well as getting it delivered to wherever the buyer is saying that he wants it to be delivered. So they have taken the comprehensive responsibility as a seller."
Why ONDC is like NPCI for e-commerce?
The role of the ONDC in all this?
"ONDC is like a utility company," explains Koshy. "In the ONDC network, there is somebody who will make a product available on the network: what you call a seller application. They have the software solution to make the catalogue visible on the ONDC network using the ONDC protocol and get it discovered by any buyer coming through any buyer application. The difference between platform and network is that today, if you want to sell on Amazon, you have to go and integrate there. If you want to go and sell on Flipkart, you have to integrate there. But the advantage of ONDC is that once you make yourself visible on the network through any seller application or through your own application, then you are visible to all buyer applications that are interested in that cross-section. For example, if it is food, then all the buyer applications selling food."
ONDC launched on April 29, 2022, with an ambitious mandate to connect sellers everywhere in the country with buyers across India. The hope was that the network would enable businesses of all sizes and states ride the e-commerce wave. Two-plus years on, ONDC is chipping away at the hurdles.
Koshy compares the progress of ONDC to UPI, India's much feted payments system and protocol. "If you remember UPI. The idea was conceptualized in 2013, programming in '14, launch in '16 and then building it up..." Koshy says that as of December 2024, ONDC had completed 15 million transactions and on-boarded about 7.5 lakh merchants and service providers. As for the Maha Kumbh prasad, ONDC wasn't immediately able to share product-level data on the number of packages delivered so far.
In January 2025, the micro, small, and medium enterprises ministry launched its MSME Trade Enablement and Marketing (TEAM) Initiative in partnership with ONDC. With an outlay of ₹277.35 crore over three years, the stated objective of the programme is to onboard 5 lakh MSEs, include 2.5 lakh women-led businesses.
"One of the national priorities today is to help entities digitize. The challenge (since) before ONDC's time—ONDC is also new—is that let's say you tell an MSME to digitize. (You try to answer) why is he digitizing? (The answer:) because you need to have market access. Where will he get market access? If you try to set up his own website, then customer acquisition is a difficult proposition. If he goes to established networks, unless his product is relevant for that established network's clientele, the network will not entertain him or the cost associated could be pretty high. Then, while you and I are very heavy users of digital commerce, finally it's only 7-8 percent of commerce that is only-digital. And that, too, when it comes to the seller side, it is practically a couple of percent," Koshy explains. "So that is why the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises said that we will have an intervention plan for MSME digitization."
Koshy adds that there are some challenges on the seller side to overcome as well. "Earlier, these businesses were used to selling locally. Now you are trying to create a market from, let's say, from Chhattisgarh to Kerala. Now the product has to be packed properly. It has been documented properly. Because it's going to take multiple hands (to deliver it to the right address without spoilage) and if the documentation isn't right..."
There's much that needs to be conveyed to the small business owners to make them e-commerce-ready. For instance, drawing up the inventory in the right format and making it visible on ONDC, and learning to package and ship the product properly. Taking good pictures and writing clear descriptions, etc., is another level of complexity. "So, we give them the trainers, help them with the capacity-building materials, etc., because these are the things that are required. It's not just these people, we tell that to anybody who is bringing sellers... a lot of basic support is needed," Koshy says.
Koshy adds that given the size and magnitude of the training, the ministry and ONDC have programmed a finish line into the handholding scheme: "About 25 orders being met, that means that you have figured out how to do the stuff."
After doing all this, Koshy adds, there's of course no guaranteeing that the small business will get new business through e-commerce. Discovery, marketing, updated inventory... these need constant work.
"The thing to keep in mind," Koshy says, "is that I am not a platform, I am not a profit-maximising entity. I am a utility provider... Eventually, we may charge a fee for a successful transaction, a rupee or rupee and a half, not like 20-30 percent, because we are meant to be a utility provider."
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