Flipkart Partners With Aarunya Project By Women SHGs To Promote Narayanpet Handlooms

Flipkart, India's homegrown e-commerce marketplace, today announced a partnership through a Terms of Understanding (ToU) with Aarunya to onboard women artisans, weavers, handicraft makers and help promote and scale their products pan-India through the e-commerce platform. This effort will be driven through Flipkart Samarth, which empowers rural communities by enabling access to the national market. 

The ToU was signed in the presence of K. T. Rama Rao, Minister for IT, Industries, Municipal Administration and Urban Development of Telangana.Talking about the partnership, K. T. Rama Rao, Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development of Telangana, said, “We are focussed on deepening our commitments towards MSMEs in the state and helping their growth. Partnership with Flipkart Samarth provides a great platform for capacity-building, enhancing and impacting rural livelihoods, especially for women. These partnerships will be instrumental in driving the commercial and social development in the state by creating inclusive growth.”

Rajneesh Kumar SVP & Chief Corporate Affairs Officer  Flipkart Group,  said, “We are delighted to partner with Telangana and Aarunya - a project that helps women gain financial independence by providing them with various skill training programs and a platform to get pan-India market access for their Handloom and Handicraft products  and products from other artisans and weavers from the state of Telangana. As a homegrown company, our deeper engagement with local Indian businesses and MSMEs has enabled us to understand their challenges and needs better and help them become prosperous. With this partnership, we aim to uplift and empower women-led businesses in their growth ambition in Telangana.”

Aarunya, the brand name for Narayanpet’s famous handlooms and handicrafts, is a project initiated amidst Covid 19 to help local women sell their specialized products. The project, which started with a team of 10 women, is now organizing a full-fledged campaign to train other women on how to make Kalamkari and Black Paintings. Aarunya has secured funding from NABARD to conduct these training sessions.

This partnership between Flipkart and Aarunya will enable the local artisans, handicraft makers from the region to market their hallmark products such as Kalankari, black paintings, fig jam and clay jewelry to millions of customers across India and help them attain financial independence. Flipkart Samarth is a nationwide initiative that aims to help skilled artisan communities set up their business on the Flipkart Marketplace in an efficient, transparent and cost-effective manner. The program was launched in 2019 as a sustainable and inclusive platform that empowers underserved indigenous communities and businesses with new growth opportunities and better livelihoods. Flipkart Samarth currently supports over a million artisans, weavers and craftsmen across India and is working towards bringing more such sellers onto the platform.

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