E-vendors created 15.8 mn jobs in India including 3.5 mn for women: Report

Online vendors have generated 15.8 million jobs in India, including 3.5 million for women, with about 1.76 million retail enterprises participating in e-commerce activity, says a report released on Wednesday.

The report 'Assessing the Net Impact of e-Commerce on Employment and Consumer Welfare in India' was launched by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

"Plugging in data from our survey, we estimate that online vendors generate 15.8 million jobs, including 3.5 million jobs for women," the report prepared by Pahle India Foundation (PIF), a Delhi-based policy research institute, said.

E-commerce, according to the report, has been a key driver of employment generation In India. On an average, online vendors employ 54 per cent more people and almost twice the number of female employees, compared to offline vendors.

The report noted that two of the most widely-recognised contributions of e-commerce penetration in the retail sector are --growth in employment and improvements