Brands
Godrej Appliances joins ONDC Network to strengthen consumer outreach
Mumbai: Godrej Appliances, part of Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of Godrej Group, has joined the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to elevate consumer access to its diverse range of home appliances. This will further increase the brand’s nationwide presence and provide customers with more convenience while purchasing appliances.
Godrej Appliances has tied up with Mystore to facilitate its enlistment across the Open Network. Presently, Godrej Appliances offers a range of 100+ SKUs through ONDC Network encompassing a wide range of advanced home appliances like refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, microwave ovens, dishwashers, air coolers and deep freezers.
On the back of this extensive Network, the brand aims to cater to several pin codes across 20+ states in India in the coming months. All products available on ONDC Network will be priced at competitive rates as compared to other platforms. Going forward, the brand will also enable easy purchase through consumer finance offers and further tap into marketing opportunities on the ONDC Network.
Expressing enthusiasm about this strategic move, Godrej Appliances business head & executive VP Kamal Nandi said, “We are excited to be a part of the government backed ONDC, with our partner Mystore to facilitate this endeavor. Godrej’s commitment to engage customers and build loyalty aligns seamlessly with ONDC’s mission to create a digitally inclusive and vibrant marketplace. As we onboard the Network, it enables us to connect with a wide audience and offer them a large variety of Godrej’s advanced home appliances. By 2026, we estimate our ONDC Network contribution to reach 20% of our e-commerce business with our entire range of home appliances.”
ONDC CEO & MD T Koshy said, “The addition of a trusted brand like Godrej to ONDC Network validates our growing reach and influence. As more prominent brands across sectors join us, it further strengthens the Network’s ability to drive inclusion and innovation. We are thrilled that Godrej recognizes the value of integrating with ONDC Network to enrich consumer choices across India’s towns and cities.”
ONDC CBO Shireesh Joshi added, “For all the brands that onboard onto the Network, it will certainly unlock new opportunities and customer segments for them. It allows beloved brands to extend their equity by being more accessible and affordable. Through a deeper market access enabled by the Network, Godrej can now showcase and deliver their quality products to consumers everywhere. We are happy and looking forward to the positive impact and progress Godrej will drive through the Open Network.”
Mystore co-founder Kriti Aggarwal said, “We are happy to play a pivotal role in enabling Godrej Appliances to begin their ONDC Network journey. This collaboration furthers our cause of making it seamless for Enterprise brands to bring their complete dealer network to the ONDC Network and boost brand visibility and reach through digital channels.”
Brands
Samsung certifies 1,000 Maharashtra students in AI and coding
The South Korean electronics giant marks its first large-scale skilling push in the state, with women making up nearly half the national programme’s enrolment
PUNE: Samsung has put 1,000 students in Maharashtra through a certified training programme in artificial intelligence and coding, the largest such drive the South Korean electronics company has run in the state and a signal that corporate India’s skilling ambitions are moving well beyond the boardroom brochure.
The certifications were awarded under Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC), the company’s flagship corporate social responsibility programme, which launched in India in 2022 with the stated aim of democratising access to future-technology education. The 1,000 graduates were drawn from four institutions: 127 from Savitribai Phule Pune University, 373 from Pimpri Chinchwad University, 250 from D.Y. Patil University’s Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology and 250 from Anjuman-I-Islam’s Kalsekar Technical Campus. All completed training in either AI or coding and programming, the two disciplines Samsung has identified as the critical pillars of the digital economy.
The programme does not stop at technical training. Soft-skills development and career-readiness modules are baked into the curriculum, a deliberate attempt to close the gap between what universities teach and what employers actually want.
“India’s digital growth story will ultimately be shaped by the quality of its talent pipeline,” said Shubham Mukherjee, head of CSR and corporate communications at Samsung Southwest Asia. “As technologies like AI move from the periphery to the core of industries, skilling must evolve from basic training to building real-world capability. This milestone in Maharashtra reflects how industry and academia can come together to create a future-ready workforce that is both globally competitive and locally relevant.”
The Maharashtra drive sits within a rapidly scaling national effort. Samsung Innovation Campus trained 20,000 young people across India in 2025, hitting its stated target for the year. Women account for 48 per cent of national enrolments, a figure the company cites as evidence of its push for an inclusive technology ecosystem. The programme is implemented in partnership with the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India and the Telecom Sector Skill Council.
Samsung, which is marking 30 years in India this year, runs SIC alongside two other initiatives, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and Samsung DOST, as part of a broader effort to build what it calls a generation of innovators with both the technical depth and the problem-solving mindset to thrive in a fast-moving digital world.
A thousand certified students is a tidy headline. Whether they find jobs that match their new skills is the harder question, and the one that will ultimately determine whether corporate skilling programmes like this one are genuine pipelines or well-photographed gestures.
