The North East Direct Selling Expo brought together an array of Assam’s policy establishment, direct selling industry leaders, market experts and direct sellers from the North East.
The programme was organised by the Indian Direct Selling Association today in a first-of-its-kind exposition and industry showcase and shows how much importance the IDSA and its member companies attach to the North East.
The Annual Survey 2019-20 for Direct Selling in India, commissioned by the IDSA, was released on the occasion.
According to the annual survey, the direct selling industry in the North East touched Rs 1,621 crores in 2019-20, accounting for 9.66 per cent market share, which in turn is a reflection of the immense potential and scope of growth that the North Eastern region has as a market. Of this, Assam alone accounted for Rs 771.6 crores, which translates to 47.59 per cent of the total revenue of the North East market, or 4.59 per cent of gross national direct selling revenue, placing Assam at number nine in the pecking order.
Further, the direct selling industry in Assam has contributed in excess of Rs 100 crores in taxes to the state exchequer. This industry provides livelihoods to 2 lakh people in Assam and another 1.6 lakh direct sellers in the other North East states. To put things in perspective, the Indian direct selling industry was valued at Rs 16,776 crores in 2019-20 as compared to Rs 13,080 crores in 2018-19. India registered the highest year-on-year growth rate of around 28 per cent, making it the fastest growing direct selling market amongst the top 20 direct selling countries globally.
The North East Direct Selling Expo – the first ever such effort in the country – saw wide-ranging discussions with stakeholders and included a specialist session dedicated to women direct sellers titled “Direct Selling – The Torch Bearer of Women’s Empowerment.” This session focused on the rising contribution of women direct sellers both in terms of revenue contribution and deeper outreach and penetration of the market in the North East.
A second panel discussion session titled “New age Micro-Entrepreneurship options” was held to display and showcase the opportunities at entrepreneurship and micro-entrepreneurship that was available to the incoming young professionals of the new generation.
Speaking on this occasion, Rajat Banerji, chairman of IDSA said, “The Indian Direct Selling Association is keen to deepen and widen its presence in the seven sisters, not just because of the very promising numbers that the Direct Selling Survey report has thrown up but by the energy, vigour and passionate drive shown by the direct sellers of the marketplace.”
