Ever since Yogi Adityanath assumed the reigns of Uttar Pradesh, there has been a determined push to change the outlook of the state and make it a manufacturing powerhouse. Hence, two years ago, the UP government launched the ‘One District, One Product’ plan to promote manufacturing of indigenous and region-specific items, which has become an instant hit. Now, the Modi government is looking to replicate the highly successful initiative at the national level as the One District, One Product (ODOP) model has the potential to make India self-reliant.
Indian Express reports that the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry is slated to come up with an institutional mechanism to promote the ODOP scheme pan India to identify the economic potential of rural India. Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal has already planned to set up a video conference with all the Industry ministers of state and Union Territories to discuss how to take the scheme ahead with specific targets set to be achieved by 2022 on the occasion of India’s 75th year of independence.
In Goyal’s letter to UP Minister for Industries, Satish Mahana, he stated, “In order to realise the true economic potential of rural India and align it with that of the clarion call of the Prime Minister to make Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is in process of putting in place an institutional mechanism to propagate One District One Product as a movement in the country with the help of all the state governments and Union Territories.”
The letter further read, “The objective is to identify one product per district based on the potential and strength of a district and national priorities, develop a cluster for that product in the district which is capable of producing a world-class product with quality, scalability and a brand and also provide market linkages.”
UP Principal Secretary (MSME and Export Promotion) Navneet Sehgal stated that the ODOP scheme helped the state to increase its exports by a whopping 30 per cent.
The essence of this scheme is to promote not only indigenous products but also specialised products which aren’t found anywhere else like the nutritious ‘Kala Namak’ rice on which the Yogi government has extensively focused upon. The state government has earmarked Agra for leather products, Azamgarh for Black Pottery, Amethi for Moonj Products with each district been allocated one specialised product.
In September 2019, UP CM Yogi Adityanath had claimed that the ODOP scheme will play a key role in helping UP become a $1 trillion economy. He further added that after the launch of the scheme, “Export of Bhadohi carpets have doubled from Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 8,000 crore.”
Earlier this month, Flipkart had inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the ODOP scheme in a bid to bring artisans, weavers and craftsmen into mainstream business under the umbrella of ‘Flipkart Samarth’.
With this understanding, the rich art and handicrafts of Uttar Pradesh will now be available to Flipkart’s more than 250 million consumers across India according to Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Flipkart Group.
Following the footsteps of Flipkart, eBay too signed a similar MoU with the UP government under the ODOP scheme which will see the state’s unique products getting a cross border platform and sell internationally across 190 countries.
The ODOP scheme has the potential to make India truly self-reliant in every aspect and the Yogi Adityanath government must be commended for the groundbreaking efforts to fast track UP’s growth.