Nandan Nilekani to join govt panel as advisor to prevent digital monopolies

Nandan Nilekani, the Infosys non-executive chairman, is all set to join as an advisor to the government's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to prevent digital monopolies.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in an order said that 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 nine-member panel aims at promoting open networks developed on open source methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific platform.

"ONDC is expected to digitise the entire value chain, standardise operations, promote inclusion of suppliers, derive efficiencies in logistics, and enhance value for consumers," official release said.

The other members of the council are National Health Authority CEO R S Sharma, QCI Chairman Adil Zainulbhai, Avaana Capital Founder Anjali Bansal, Digital India Foundation Co-Founder Arvind Gupta, National Payments Corporation India CEO Dilip Asbe, NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Ltd MD and CEO Suresh Sethi, CAIT Secretary General P Khandelwal, and Retailers Association of India CEO Kumar Rajagopalan.