Amazon Partners Govt Entities to Empower Indian Women Entrepreneurs

E-commerce giant Amazon India collaborated with four government entities as part of its programme Amazon Saheli to accelerate the growth of women entrepreneurs across the country.

The entities include Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (UPSRLM), Assam Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Services (ARIAS), Chhattisgarh State Forest Department (CG Forest) and Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS).

The collaborations, as part of the Women's Entrepreneurship Day, are aligned with Amazon's commitment to digitise 1 crore Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and enable $10 billion in e-commerce exports and create 20 lakh jobs by 2025, the company said in a statement.

Amazon.in also launched a special WED storefront with a selection of products made available by women-owned businesses. The WED storefront will help customers discover and purchase from close to 98,000 unique products including selections like handicraft, handloom, fashion accessories, grocery and more.

As part of the collaboration, the Amazon Saheli programme offers extensive training and skill development workshops for its participants to help women entrepreneurs associated understand the nuances of online selling and develop skills and capabilities necessary to grow their business on Amazon.in.

Amazon.in looks to bring in regional selection and unique products across categories like grocery, home and fashion accessories offered for sale by women entrepreneurs from across Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Assam to millions of Amazon customers across the country.

"In line with our commitment to digitise 1 Crore MSMEs by 2025, we are proud to announce that we are collaborating with leading government bodies including UPSRLM in Uttar Pradesh, ARIAS in Assam, CG Forest in Chhattisgarh and JSLPS in Jharkhand to directly impact and empower lakhs of women entrepreneurs across the four states," said Sumit Sahay, Director, Seller Partner Services, Amazon India, in the statement.

"We want to enable and empower women entrepreneurs who nurture the dream of starting something of their own and help them unleash their true potential by providing a comprehensive suite of marketplace services and continued support. Through these collaborations, we seek to transform the lives of women sellers by helping them kickstart their e-commerce journey," Sahay added.

Amazon India launched Amazon Saheli programme in 2017 to enable women entrepreneurs to become successful sellers on Amazon.in. Currently, Amazon Saheli works with over 50 partners such as National Urban Livelihood Mission, JSLPS, ARIAS, etc, with a reach of over 10,00,000 women entrepreneurs.