‘Country of Origin’ Now Mandatory: A Step Further to an Atmanirbhar (Self-Sustained) Bharat
The advent of Covid-19 followed by a nationwide lock-down left the economy in a standstill. During the unlock 1.0, the government came up with an appeal for the nation to become “Atmanirbhar” (self-sustained) encouraging people to prefer purchasing more Indian originated good.
The use of Chinese products has always been discouraged; but the heightened tension between India and China on the Himalayan border has further instigated the anti-china sentiments among people.
In order to support the “make in India” and the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-sustained India) initiative further, the government on Tuesday has made it mandatory for sellers to enter the “country of origin” while registering all new products on Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and those who have already registered their products would have to update the new details as per the guidelines.
Government e-Marketplace (GeM) a special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had made it mandatory for sellers to enter the ‘country of origin’ on all the products registered on GeM. It is an effort to transform the way in which procurement of goods and services is done by the Government Ministries and Departments, Public sector Undertakings and other apex autonomous bodies of the Central Government.
A special “make in India” feature has also been enabled on portal through which buyers can choose to buy only those products that meet only 50% local content criteria.
Government has compelled the e-commerce giants to enable this on their platforms to which giants like Amazon and Flipkart have agreed to compel their seller to display country of origin for all products.
Since most e-commerce portals are selling Chinese goods about which the consumer remains unaware, the mention of the “country of origin” of goods on each product on any platform would not only help the consumer to know how much composition of product made is Indian but also would help them to take a rational decision.
