Kudumbashree taps into e-commerce; Pocket Mart app to go online today
In Ernakulam, 15 units will feature over 100 products. Besides homemade, cosmetic and textile products made by units, Kudumbashree initiatives such as Lunch Bell, Buds, Cafe, and Kerala Chicken will also be available on Pocket Mart,' the official added.
According to the official, Pocket Mart will to open up the endless possibilities of the digital market to Kudumbashree micro-entrepreneurs. Customers will also be able to easily locate these enterprises or contact them directly.
In the last financial year, the turnover of Kudumbashree's Home Shop Network -- which takes the products of micro-entrepreneurs directly to households -- was `18.66 crore. According to the official, this model will be expanded. Products will now be delivered anywhere in India via courier.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
8 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Messi's Kerala visit called off as Argentina pulls out of 2025 match deal
KOCHI: The uncertainty has ended, on a sour note. Superstar Lionel Messi and his Argentina team will not play in Kerala this year. Having reassured football fans several times over the past eight months that the world champions would play in Kerala, Sports Minister V Abdurahiman on Monday finally conceded that the much-hyped visit is not happening. While the Argentina Football Association has expressed willingness to consider the March 2026 window, the state government has decided not to accept that arrangement, the minister said. 'What we agreed for was a match here in 2025. But in a recent communication, the AFA has breached the agreement,' Abdurahiman told the TNIE. He said the state government had reached an agreement with the AFA to have Messi and company playing in Kerala this October, the Argentine football body has conveyed that the deal is not possible anymore. 'This has happened after the transfer of funds required in line with the agreement,' the minister said. He said the initial communication was made as the AFA sent an invoice via email, offering the October international break. 'The agreement was made almost six months ago and we were awaiting clearances from the finance department, Reserve Bank of India, and the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs. After that, we successfully transferred the funds. Last week, we received the communication indicating the postponement,' the minister said. Further, he said the state government has officially conveyed to the Argentine Football Association that a 2026 window is unacceptable.
Mint
17 hours ago
- Mint
Niti Aayog proposes stiffer taxes, stringent emission norms for fossil fuel vehicles to promote EVs
New Delhi: Nudges are not enough anymore. With India's electric vehicle (EV) adoption lagging behind global peers, Niti Aayog is pushing for a sharper pivot by proposing mandates, penalties, and steeper costs for fossil fuel vehicles to make the EV shift inevitable. The proposals mark a strategic shift from a decade of subsidies and incentives to a model that actively disincentivises petrol and diesel use. In a policy report released Monday, the government think tank called for higher registration fees, tougher emission norms and increased input taxes on internal combustion engine vehicles. Alongside city-level EV saturation pilots and targeted financing for electric buses and trucks, the push comes amid concerns over supply chain vulnerabilities, especially after China's export curbs on rare earth magnets. Niti Aayog's roadmap aims to speed up India's path to net-zero by 2070 and close the gap with EV leaders such as China and the US. The 'Unlocking a $200 Billion Opportunity: Electric Vehicles in India" report has proposed stringent vehicle emission standards, mandates for share of clean mobility in a fleet, higher registration fees and taxes on fossil fuel call for stringent emission standards come amid the industry tiff on the implementation of the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) norms for passenger cars from April 2027 over whether relaxations should be given to smaller cars. The Niti Aayog's suggestions also include focus on financing for electric buses and trucks and scaling up research efforts to lower battery costs, according to the report. It proposes segregating the cost of the EV battery from that of the rest of the vehicle, allowing consumers to only pay for the vehicle upfront and reducing the capital Aayog's suggestions came after its consultations showed India was struggling with challenges such as financing of vehicles, inadequate charging facilities and a general lack of awareness related to report also laid down a roadmap for central government ministries, asking the ministries of heavy industries and road transport and highways to design a more stringent plan to disincentivize the use of fossil fuel vehicleswithin one year. Niti Aayog also suggested the power ministry to expand CAFE norms to a wider segment of think tank said 98% of India's vehicle fleet comprises either small vehicles—two-wheelers or small cars—or public transport or goods vehicles. Only 2% are larger cars costing more than ₹10 lakh, the report its report, the think tank suggested focusing policy towards a specific subset of vehicles, such as two-wheelers that make for three-fourth of India's road transport, as well as focusing on saturation of EVs in a specific geographical area, instead of broad and even distribution. Niti Aayog asked the ministries of heavy industries, road transport, and the housing and urban affairs to start a pilot programme for five cities for saturating EV adoption within a year, and later scale it to 100 cities in the next 5-10 years. Policy shift The mandates, disincentives and recommendations mark a shift in EV policy frameworks after more than a decade of incentives for manufacturing and purchasing of EVs. These incentives included tax reduction, consumer subsidies, and production-linked incentives. The Union government also reduced the goods and services tax (GST) on EVs to 5% against a much higher levy of 28% on fossil fuel had kicked off its Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (& Hybrid) vehicles (FAME) scheme in FY15, offering discounts, or subsidies, on purchase of EVs. This scheme had two iterations of five years each, marking a decade of incentivizing consumers to shift to EVs by the end of FY24. The third iteration, now named the PM E-drive scheme, has a run time of two years from the beginning of FY25 to the end of 2021, the government also announced the ₹25,938-crore production-linked incentive scheme for automobiles and automotive components to incentivize manufacturers to shift towards zero-emission Niti Aayog also launched an EV index of states on Monday to boost competitive federalism, mapping the preparedness of each state to adopt electric mobility. Delhi, Maharashtra and Chandigarh were frontrunners in the index in 2024. Global comparison India's EV adoption has been considerable, but it has not been able to beat other major economies such as the US and China, Niti Aayog officials said.'While EV sales have grown from 50,000 units in 2016 to 2.08 million in 2024, the progress has been relatively slower compared to global trends, where sales rose from 918,000 to 18.78 million during the same period," Niti Aayog said in a press Aayog distinguished fellow O.P. Agarwal said that while India's adoption in electric three-wheelers is better than that of China, it lags behind in other vehicle segments. 'There has been some progress in electric buses and electric cars, but electric trucks have yet to pick up," he report said China's sales of electric trucks in the 'above 3.5 tons' category was around 76,000, while India's was about 280, citing data from the International Energy Agency and the central government's Vahan registry of vehicles. China's penetration of these trucks was 3%, while that of India was 0.07%, the report Aayog chief executive officer B.V.R. Subrahmanyam andmember Rajiv Gauba both said the adoption of electric mobility is crucial to achieve the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.'The Department of Financial Services (DFS) should work with banks to provide longer loans, that is, loans of longer durations, for the purchase of EVs, especially trucks," said Gauba, former cabinet of the ministry of heavy industries Kamran Rizvi, who heads the nodal ministry for the FAME, PM E-drive and PLI-Auto schemes, said the schemes incentivising electric mobility had pushed vehicle makers to localize their supply chains. '107 vehicles have secured the DVA (domestic value addition under the PLI-Auto scheme under the PLI-Auto scheme) now," he said. Under the PLI-Auto scheme, manufacturers have to ensure that 50% of the components used to build a zero-emission vehicle are sourced locally.
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
To boost EV sales, govt to clarify on exemption from 15-year 'End of Life' rule
In a bid to boost the adoption of electric buses, cars, and trucks, the government is likely to soon clarify that the 15-year 'End of Life' (EoL) regulation will not apply to electric vehicles (EVs), The Times of India (TOI) reported. According to TOI, the power ministry will also expedite the extension of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) norms, meant to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, to urban freight vehicles, trucks and buses. These measures were finalised at a recent high-level meeting chaired by Niti Aayog member Rajiv Gauba amid concerns over the slow pace of EV penetration, which stood at just 7.6% in 2024 against the 30% target for 2030. While adoption is higher in two- and three-wheelers and buses, penetration for four-wheelers remains low, and e-trucks have yet to take off, TOI said. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Others others healthcare Artificial Intelligence Healthcare Finance Public Policy Leadership PGDM Data Science CXO MCA Cybersecurity Operations Management Data Science Digital Marketing Design Thinking Product Management Project Management Data Analytics Management MBA Technology Degree Skills you'll gain: Duration: 16 Weeks Indian School of Business CERT-ISB Transforming HR with Analytics & AI India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 9 months IIM Lucknow SEPO - IIML CHRO India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 28 Weeks MICA CERT-MICA SBMPR Async India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 7 Months S P Jain Institute of Management and Research CERT-SPJIMR Exec Cert Prog in AI for Biz India Starts on undefined Get Details Sources told TOI that during the meeting, road transport secretary V Umashankar noted that most buses over 15 years old are privately owned. In response, Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam suggested that exempting EVs from the EoL regulation could help spur sales. Umashankar also said that mandates for EV adoption work best where penetration and ecosystem readiness are higher. Sources further told TOI that there was consensus on shifting from incentives to mandates and disincentives to speed up EV adoption, starting with saturation strategies in five cities for buses, para-transit and urban freight vehicles. A source added that participants unanimously agreed on the need to expand charging infrastructure, deploy fast chargers, develop new battery technologies to reduce import dependence, and improve financing for e-buses and e-trucks. Live Events TOI reported that, days later, the finance ministry convened a meeting with banks to address their reluctance to finance EVs and concerns over high interest rates. Chaired by financial services secretary M Nagaraju, the meeting saw banks urge the government to standardise batteries, reduce vehicle costs and offer incentives for new battery purchases, given that batteries, typically replaced every 6-7 years, account for 40-50% of an EV's cost.
