Clipped from: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/ondc-set-to-grow-10-times-by-2026/article69561221.ece
Addressing concerns over the platform’s slow growth, Koshy pointed to steady progress — from 1,200 monthly transactions in January 2023 to over 16.5 million in March 2025.
Open Network for Digital Commerce’s former CEO, Thampy Koshy, told businessline that the platform will increase from 5-6 lakh daily transactions to 50-60 lakh such transactions by 2026.
Unperturbed by public criticism about the platform’s slow growth in recent weeks, Koshy said that ONDC’s goal is to build a community, which will be a slow process.
“When we started to make ONDC available to the public at large in Bangalore in January 2023, we did 1200 transactions monthly. In March this year we did over 16.5 million transactions. On average today, ONDC carries out between 5-6 lakh transactions daily. By next year, we will likely add one more zero to this number,” said Koshy, adding how the company is focusing beyond food and mobility.
The company has onboarded 8 lakh service providers so far including, merchants, taxi drivers, shopeepers, as well as brands like Dominos and Unilever, said Koshy. Earlier news reports claimed that organisations like National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) had paused or withdrawn from engagement with ONDC. The two entities have since issued a joint statement about collaborating to empower food businesses in the digital world, dismissing all rumours.
Speaking about ONDC’s future prospects, Koshy said the company is trying to maximise investment by not “throwing money for media and predatory pricing to take control of the market.” He estimated the media budget of the top nine e-commerce companies in India was ₹10,000 crores, while ONDC has not made such expenses so far.
Despite Koshy’s confidence, there have been discussions about the platform’s slow progress. Naiyya Saggi, founder of Baby Chara and co-founder of Good Glamm Group, said that small businesses like hers are cautious about onboarding since ONDC is still in its infancy and such network effect platforms take time to build.
However, Professor Gita Johar, Meyer Feldberg Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, expressed confidence in the platform’s success. Speaking on the side-lines of ‘Reimagining Digital Ecosystems‘ event organized by Columbia Business School and Columbia Global Center Mumbai, Johar said that unlike UPI, the open network platform offers a more complex service.
“ONDC is going to be slow to take off but my prediction would be that once they onboard use-cases that showcase the value of a network like ONDC, the platform will take off. Retail was expected to be used in this manner, but it’s very complex in terms of the value it offers,” said Johar, adding that the platform has only showcased connecting suppliers and consumers till now.
Noting the boost small businesses have received since the UK-India Free Trade Agreement, Johar said such developments could be a turning point for ONDC as well since small businesses will need access to markets, which ONDC specialises in.
Published on May 10, 2025
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