The Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday said that Infosys’ Nandan Nilekani to join as an advisor to Govt’s Open Network for Digital Commerce which aims at promoting open networks developed on open-sourced methodology.

The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has initiated a project on ONDC and the task has been assigned to the Quality Council of India(QCD).

“ONDC aims at promoting open networks developed on open-sourced methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific platform. ONDC is expected to digitize the entire value chain, standardize operations, promote inclusion of suppliers, derive efficiencies in logistics, and enhance value for consumers,” the ministry said.

RK Puri, joint director, DPIIT, in a notification, said it has been decided to constitute an advisory council to advise the government on measures needed to design and accelerate the adoption of ONDC.

The members of the ONDC also includes RS Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority; Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, QCI and Capacity Building Commission; Anjali Bansal, founder and chairperson of Avaana Capital; Arvind Gupta, co-founder, and head, Digital India Foundation; Dilip Asbe, MD and CEO, National Payments Corporation India (NPCI); Suresh Sethi, MD and CEO, National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL); Praveen Khandelwal; Secretary-General, Confederation of All India Traders; and Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retail Association of India (RAI).

The ONDC is a digital project of the government to redefine the e-commerce landscape in the wake of a large number of complaints of malpractices being conducted by existing e-commerce companies.