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New Delhi: The government will soon launch a trade marketing scheme to help micro and small enterprises (MSE) onboard the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and participate in digital commerce, said officials. The micro, small and medium enterprises ministry has proposed the Trade Enablement & Marketing (TEAM) scheme, with an outlay of ₹277 crore, to expand MSEs' business beyond the bricks-and-mortar model through ONDC, India's mega network, which seeks to enable buyers and sellers to transact through a single platform."The TEAM initiative aims to help MSEs compete in the digital space using the ONDC," said an official, who did not wish to be identified. On ONDC, sellers don't have to pay high commission of 30-40% as on other e-marketplaces, the official said.111147909ONDC is based on protocols that make e-commerce more inclusive and accessible for stakeholders. Applications or platforms using the ONDC allow sellers listed across e-commerce platforms, including local kirana stores, to be visible to the buyers. The government is targeting 500,000 MSEs through the scheme, helping MSEs across stages of digital commerce to fulfil the orders. The scheme is expected to run till 2026-27."The amount under the scheme will be provided as subsidies to MSEs through seller network participant (SNP) for various services such as catalogue creation, account management, packaging and logistics," said another official.SNPs act as a bridge between the seller and the ONDC network through an application, facilitating payments and other services on the network. Under the account management component, SNPs will help MSEs get initial orders, added the official. National Small Industries Corporation, the same body responsible for the upkeep and operation of MSME Mart, will implement the scheme.

Veteran fund manager Sunil Singhania on Thursday said India offers a lot of opportunities for equity investing, backed by robust fundamentals.These fundamentals are being driven by 4 'Ds', according to the Abakkus founder, which are amplified as Democracy, Demographics, Domestic Consumption and Digital leeway.Singhania said in the post-Covid era, the world was debating about recession and job losses, but India, on the other hand, was talking about growth.Elaborating on the first 'D', Singhania said India’s biggest strength is democracy and that the election results once again proved it, "Whatever the result, everyone has accepted it and moved on".The second 'D' is demographics, where about 65% of the population still is young, which means the longevity of current growth levels can be sustained for a long time.The third 'D' is a domestic consumption-led economy where around 82-83% of GDP comes from domestic consumption. As more and more people become aspirational, the consumption demand is only likely to boom."We are way behind in infrastructure, but what we lack there has been offset by our digital capabilities, where we are leading the world in terms of technology," the market said on the fourth 'D'Speaking at the AIF & PMS Conclave 2.0, Singhania further said equity investing is all about investing in the future."Invest only if you are positive about the future. If you are satisfied with reasonable returns, equities are always the option and this is where India offers a lot of opportunities," he added.

Market regulator Security and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday modified the duration for call auction in pre-open session for IPO and relisted scrips.It was observed that during the call auction in pre-open session for certain IPO and relisted scrips, orders were placed at higher prices in large volumes and a significant portion of such orders were cancelled just before the closure of call auction session.This may have created false demand and supply and possibly manipulated the price of the scrips to the detriment of common investors.In order to curb the misuse of the call auction session, Sebi has decided to modify the current provisions related to call auction sessions for IPO and relisted scrips and introduce additional surveillance measures at stock exchanges.According to new modifications, the pre-open session for IPOs will be for a duration of 60 minutes i.e, from 9-10 am, out of which 45 minutes will be allowed for order entry, order modification and order cancellation and 10 minutes for order matching and trade confirmation.The remaining 5 minutes will be the buffer period to facilitate the transition from pre-open session to the normal trading session.The session will close randomly during the last ten minute of order entry, which is anytime between 35th and 45th minute of the order entry window. Such random closure will be entirely system driven.The changes will be applicable in 3 months from the date of issuance of the circular.Further, the regulator has also announced the introduction of a special call auction mechanism for price discovery of scrips of listed investment companies (ICs) and listed investment holding companies (IHCs).Sebi said that scrips of a few listed ICs and IHCs are being traded infrequently and at a price which is significantly lower than the book value disclosed by these companies in their latest audited financial statements.Moreover, these companies generally have no day-to-day operations and hold investments in different asset classes including in scrips of other listed companies.In order to address these concerns, Sebi has decided to put in place a framework for special call auction with no price bands for effective price discovery of scrips of such investment companies and investment holding companies.

Nifty ended Thursday’s weekly expiry session 51 points higher to form a high wave type candlestick on the daily charts.The short-term trend of Nifty continues to be positive amid high volatility. Having moved above the hurdle of 22,250 levels (mid part of Tuesday's long bear candle) recently, the index could move towards the next upper hurdle of 23,200 (upper part of long bear candle) in the near term. Immediate support is at 22,640 levels, said Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities.Open Interest (OI) data showed that on the call side, the highest OI was observed at 24,000 and 24,200 strike prices. On the put side, the highest OI was at the 23,000 strike price.What should traders do? Here’s what analysts said:Shrikant Chouhan, Kotak SecuritiesWe are of the view that the current market texture is non-directional. Perhaps, traders are waiting for either-side breakout. On the higher side, 23,650/77,700 would be the immediate breakout level while below 23,450/77,100 the selling pressure is likely to accelerate. Above 23,650/77,700, the market could move up till 23,750-23,800 /78,000-78,200. However, below 23,450/77,100, the market is likely to retest the level of 23,320-23,300/76,800-76,700.Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst at LKP SecuritiesThe market consolidated within a range, with the index stuck between 23,400 and 23,650. The undertone remains bullish as long as the index sustains above the 23,400 support, where aggressive put writing is visible. Surpassing the 23,650 mark will open further room towards the 23,800/24,000 levels.Tejas Shah, JM Financial & BlinkXSupport for the Nifty is now seen at 23,500 and 23,300-350 levels. On the higher side, the immediate resistance zone is at 23,600-625 levels and the next resistance zone is at 23,750-800 levels.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)