India to launch open e-commerce network to take on Amazon, Walmart

The government's so-called ONDC platform will allow buyers and sellers to connect and transact with each other online, no matter what other application they use

India will on Friday launch an open network for digital commerce (ONDC) as the government tries to end the dominance of U.S. companies Amazon.com and Walmart in the fast-growing e-commerce market, a government document showed.

The launch of the platform comes after India's antitrust body on Thursday raided domestic sellers of Amazon and some of Walmart's Flipkart following accusations of competition law violations. The companies did not respond to request for comment on the raids.

Indian retailers, key supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have long contended that Amazon and Flipkart's platforms benefit a few big sellers, via predatory pricing, though the