Government has unveiled its plans to tie-up with e-Commerce giant Amazon to expand the tribal handicrafts market of India. The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Amazon for the same in near future, according to an official.

“We have invited offers from retailers to become franchise of Tribe India from all over the country. We currently have 43 retail outlets in the country through which tribal products are being sold. We plan to set up 2,000 franchise outlets. The idea is to take the sale to around Rs 100 crore,” said TRIFED Managing Director Pravir Krishna.

Through the MoU, government envisions a pan-India reach of ‘Tribe India’ brand by scaling operations and retailing marketing via the online space. The TRIFED has already on-boarded Snapdeal for the same.

The government is also working to provide insurance to forest producers on lines of horticulture and agricultural schemes, so that “they can be insured against price variation and slump”, added Krishna.

He further informed that the Tribal Affairs Ministry will organise a national workshop on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for non-timber forest products, also known as minor forest produce (MFP), to address the gaps in the scheme and make it more efficient.

“They will be given a commission of 7.5 percent for doing this. The motto is to recalibrate the programme by identifying the gaps and have pan-India coverage to provide a fair and equitable deal to tribals in their trade,” said Krishna.

The Tribal Affairs Ministry has also urged state governments to set procurement groups staffed by self-help groups.