Picture a shopkeeper in Jaipur. He has been selling textiles for 15 years — same customers, same street, same morning routine. He knows his product better than anyone. But his market is locked to whoever walks past his door.
Now picture the same shopkeeper selling to customers in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru — from that same street, without renting a warehouse, without building a website. That is not a fantasy. Under Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s Trade Promotion Policy 2025-29, it is the plan.
What the Policy Actually Does for Digital Retail
The Rajasthan Trade Promotion Policy 2025-29 — issued January 30, 2026, by Rathore’s Industry & Commerce Department — contains a specific digital enablement chapter. As the PIB documented from the National Traders’ Welfare Board meeting in April 2026, the key e-commerce benefit is:
| 📦 Rajasthan Trade Policy — E-Commerce Reimbursement75% reimbursement of e-commerce platform fees (registration, referral, subscription) — excluding shipping — up to ₹50,000 per year, for one year. Applicable on Amazon, Flipkart, ONDC-linked platforms, and other registered e-commerce platforms. (Source: PIB, National Traders Welfare Board Meeting, April 2026) |
This means: if your annual Amazon seller fees are ₹40,000, the government pays back ₹30,000. Your digital presence becomes nearly free for the first year — which is the exact period when most small businesses give up because returns are slow.
ONDC and DigiDukaan — The Democratisation of Digital Commerce
Beyond the fee reimbursement, Rathore’s policy is aligned with the ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) — India’s government-backed open marketplace that removes the dependency on any single platform like Amazon or Flipkart. The PIB also documented plans for DigiDukaan, a B2B platform, to expand to Rajasthan.
ONDC means a shopkeeper does not need to pay Amazon’s subscription fee — they can list products on a shared open network that is connected to multiple buyer apps simultaneously. For traditional traders in Rajasthan, this is the most significant digital opportunity in decades.
Capacity Building — Because Technology Without Training Fails
Rathore’s team at the Industry & Commerce Department understands that handing someone a platform they do not know how to use helps nobody. The policy includes structured capacity building programmes for traders — teaching product photography, digital cataloguing, pricing strategy, and logistics management. These are offered through trade associations and skill development centres already active under PMKVY 4.0.
- Product listing training — how to photograph and describe products for online buyers
- Logistics coordination — connecting with last-mile delivery partners for outstation orders
- Digital payments — UPI, QR codes, and online invoicing using DigiLocker
- Export readiness — for traders ready to go international under the Export Promotion Policy
The Numbers Behind the Vision
Rajasthan has over 10.5 lakh retail traders who are now explicitly within the scope of this policy. The state’s exports rose by ₹19,400 crore in two years under Rathore’s ministry. The ₹30 crore fair fund confirmed by Business Standard on February 26, 2026 helps the same traders take their products to domestic and international exhibitions.
The goal, in Rathore’s own words at the Rising Rajasthan summit: “It is a state to settle down in. You can live here, work here. Everything is perfect.” For a Jaipur shopkeeper selling textiles, that now includes selling to a buyer in Germany — through his phone, from his shop. Stay updated at News & Updates and rajyavardhanrathore.in.
