- State Food, Civil Supply, and Consumer Protection Affairs Minister fetes 14 woman entrepreneurs for writing their success stories
- The state, which continued to be the ninth-top direct selling market in the country, provides self-employment to over 2.1 lakh microentrepreneurs, with over 77K of them being women
- The industry makes a significant contribution of over Rs 150 crore to the state exchequer through taxes
NE BUSINESS BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, AUGUST 30
State Food, Civil Supply, and Consumer Protection Affairs Minister Kunvarjibhai Mohanbhai Bavaliya felicitated 14 woman microentrepreneurs here on Thursday. He also assured to protect the interest of the consumers, while handholding the direct selling industry.
In his address, Kunvarjibhai Mohanbhai Bavaliya, said, “While creating a conducive business environment for the direct selling industry, the state is committed to safeguarding the interests of consumers. In order to ensure the quality of the products for consumers, my department will offer all help to the industry, and also working on constituting a monitoring mechanism as envisaged in the Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules 2021.”
He also felicitated 14 women entrepreneurs who have excelled in the field of direct selling with respective companies in the state.
The event was organised by the the Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) and the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA) a nongovernmental, voluntary organization that represents the direct selling industry globally.
Ruling the roost at the second position after Maharashtra in the Western region, the direct selling business in Gujrat has crossed Rs 1,000 crore, registering a growth of nearly 10% in the year 2022–23, the Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) shared in a survey report to the media here on Thursday.
The report, prepared by the KANTAR, signifying industry’s core strength in creating self-employment, skill development opportunities, and socio-economic growth at the grass-roots levels, reflects that the state clocked a business turnover of Rs 1,014 crore during the period, Rs 91 crore above the 2021–22 fiscal, registering a robust 9.86% growth.
The state, which continued to be the ninth-top direct selling market in the country, provided self-employment to over 2.1 lakh microentrepreneurs, with over 77,000 of them being women. The industry, which makes a significant contribution of over Rs 150 crore to the state exchequer through taxes, also has over 4.8 percent share on overall national sales, which stood at over Rs 21,282 crore in 2022–23, the IDSA shared.
Vivek Katoch, Chairman, IDSA, said, “Gujrat continues to be among the key and priority markets for the direct selling industry. The growth figures clearly reflect that the direct selling industry in the state is poised for new horizons, reaffirming the relentless hard work of direct sellers.”
“The industry has provided sustainable self-employment and micro-entrepreneurship opportunities for nearly 86 lakh Indians and has demonstrated consistent and sustained growth with a CAGR of over eight percent during the last four years. The 19-member companies of IDSA can confidently lay claim to successfully protecting consumer interests as well as those of over 2.1 lakh direct sellers in the state,” added Katoch.
He further said, “The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, through the Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules 2021, has brought regulatory clarity to the operations of the direct selling entities and to protect consumers. So far, ten states have established monitoring committees in accordance with the Rules’ provisions. I trust that other states, including Gujrat, will also accomplish the task soon.”
