PepsiCo India said on Tuesday that it has expanded its collaboration with Common Service Centres (CSC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to feature its food goods on the Grameen e-store platform to improve rural outreach in India.
PepsiCo India’s snacking brands – Lay’s, Kurkure, and Uncle Chipps – will be listed on the CSC Grameen eStore throughout 11 districts in Andhra Pradesh after a successful trial operation in Uttar Pradesh, the firm said in a statement.
In addition, the collaboration with CSC includes Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, as well as the expansion of the snacking brands into other Uttar Pradesh districts.
20,000 Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) and 489 Distributor Village Level Entrepreneurs will distribute the items (DVLEs).
PepsiCo India’s collaboration with CSC is in line with the Indian government’s goal of achieving “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” through creating rural jobs and ensuring rural India’s digital inclusion.
Last year, the relationship began with a trial in Uttar Pradesh with 264 Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs), which got an excellent feedback.
Using what they’ve learned, PepsiCo India has not only extended the programme, but also given current VLEs the option to convert to DVLEs. This will aid in the promotion of rural entrepreneurship by expanding the reach and earning potential of existing enterprises.
CSC has been working in excellent synergy with PepsiCo India to offer additional possibilities for rural entrepreneurship, according to Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CSC SPV. The expansion of our relationship with PepsiCo India will undoubtedly be a watershed moment for CSC in terms of ensuring last-mile delivery in rural India’s hinterlands by fostering rural entrepreneurship and assisting in the growth of companies and local jobs.
He went on to say that additional collaborations like these are needed to bring the Government of India’s objective of creating an “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and pushing digital inclusion in rural and remote areas to life.
Speaking on the new developments, Aditya Sinha Senior Director and Head of Sales, PepsiCo India said, the CSC Grameen e- store program is a unique purpose vehicle that has encouraged and economically empowered rural entrepreneurs. We are proud to be associated with this program and will continue to work closely with CSC to promote rural entrepreneurs and help create more synergies.
