New Delhi, Jun 28 (IANS): In a bid to empower micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the government has announced an initiative to onboard five lakh MSMEs on to the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

The initiative, called 'MSME TEAM', aims to provide financial assistance for onboarding, cataloguing, account management, logistics, packaging material and design of 5 lakh MSMEs on the ONDC network.

Half of these beneficiary MSMEs will be women-owned enterprises, said Union Minister for MSME, Jitan Ram Manjhi.

"MSMEs will be a key force in the movement towards Atmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat," the minister added.

In a fast-changing industrial landscape, the MSMEs need to align themselves to adopting digital and technological solutions, the minister noted.

Another ministry initiative called the 'Yashasvini' campaign, is a series of mass awareness campaigns for formalising women-owned informal micro enterprises and providing capacity building, training, handholding and mentorship to the women-owned enterprises.

A series of campaigns will be organised by the Ministry of MSME during FY24-25 in various parts of the country, focusing on tier 2 and 3 cities.

The MSME minister also emphasised the need to deepen and broaden the effort through an inclusive and focused approach, especially in the rural areas and hinterland as per the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.