The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), the government-backed digital infrastructure to democratize e-commerce, is shifting its focus to logistics, mobility, and transport while adopting a more targeted approach to retail. According to reports from Mint, the objective is now primarily to aggregate farmers' produce and bring it online to give them wider access to buyers, as well as to bring made-in-India products, particularly through DigiHaat, to the open network. Logistics, auto bookings and ticketing are emerging as other key areas, with the network now having 'sharper conviction' about where it can create the most value.
The shift comes after significant changes at ONDC over the past year, with Vibhor Jain taking over as managing director and chief executive from T. Koshy in April and Manoj Thakur joining as chief technology officer (CTO) in February. As reported by Mint, the network has also raised ₹430 crore from a group of strategic investors, including Zoho, Uber, Paytm, National Stock Exchange, BSE Technologies, Amul, State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank. The network, launched in April 2022, is now focusing more on areas where interoperability can address structural gaps, including digitizing retail supply chains in fragmented areas and connecting merchants to multiple logistics providers.
ONDC's retail strategy, internally referred to as 'ONDC 2.0', is based on three key initiatives: DigiDukaan, DigiHaat, and DigiBazaar. According to Mint data, the Amazing India programme now works with eight aggregators covering 1,500 farmer-producer organisations (FPOs) and more than 50,000 farmers, while DigiDukaan has expanded to 18,000-plus retailers across Hyderabad, Jaipur and Mumbai. The network aims to make existing retailer inventory discoverable rather than asking local retailers to build standalone online businesses, with its initial focus on electronics and direct-to-consumer strategy for Indian brands.
In logistics, ONDC has more than 30 small and micro fleet operators on FleetConnect, contributing more than 22% of network orders, while more than 80,000 merchants use ONDC logistics. As reported by Mint, the network facilitates more than 500,000 metro and bus journeys daily and around 30% of online public-transport transactions flow through the network. More than 40 consumer applications carry public-transport ticketing, with the value proposition being less about creating another consumer destination and more about reducing integrations required by transport authorities.
The network faces challenges with inconsistent business models among smaller operators, as reported by Mint. Farmers, artisans and rural producers recorded an 11-fold increase in order volumes during 2025-26 through network models, while food remains part of ONDC's retail strategy with Flipkart beginning to accept food orders through a closed user group testing ahead of the Big Billion Days sale. The approach aims to solve problems that individual platforms cannot solve efficiently through interoperability, positioning ONDC as digital infrastructure rather than another consumer marketplace.
