- Why in news
- On 23 January 2026, PIB Research published an explainer on One District One Product (ODOP), saying it had scaled to over 770 districts as of December 2025.
- What it is
- One District One Product (ODOP) picks one signature product in each district and supports it with branding, market access and institutional help. It began as a state-led initiative in Uttar Pradesh and was later adopted nationally under DPIIT. It aims at balanced regional growth, jobs for artisans and farmers, and exports.
- Nodal department
- The national ODOP initiative is led by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
- Product selection
- States and UTs choose the products based on the local ecosystem and send the final list to DPIIT.
- PM Ekta Malls
- Unity Malls are retail and display hubs for ODOP, GI and handicraft products, with a space for every State and UT. They run on a PPP model with state ownership.
- Online market access
- The GeM-ODOP Bazaar is a dedicated ODOP storefront on the Government e-Marketplace.
Don’t confuse with ODOP vs One Station One Product: ODOP is a district-based product promotion drive led by DPIIT. One Station One Product is a separate Railways initiative to sell local products at stations.
Don’t confuse with ODOP vs Districts as Export Hubs: ODOP picks a signature product per district. Districts as Export Hubs is a related export-focused effort that ODOP is aligned with.
Schemes: 52 Prelims questions since 2013, 10 in Prelims 2026 alone. They test features, the period and who funds it. In Mains, 33 news-triggered questions, mostly GS3.
Why it matters
- Promotes balanced regional growth by building on each district's existing strengths.
- Gives livelihoods to artisans, weavers and farmers, and helps preserve traditional crafts.
Problems
- One product per district can leave out other local products and clusters.
- Artisans still face gaps in credit, quality standards, design and market linkages.
Way forward
- Link ODOP with GI tagging, skilling, credit and export support in each district.
- Track outcomes with district-level data on incomes, jobs and exports.
Put in your answer
Uttar Pradesh export growth: UP exports rose 76%, from ₹88,967 crore in 2017-18 to ₹1.71 lakh crore in 2023-24.
Skilling in UP: Over 1.25 crore ODOP artisans in UP were trained and given toolkits under the Skill Development & Toolkit Distribution Scheme.
- 2019Mains GS1 · Q6Can regional resource-based manufacturing promote employment in India?
- 2025Mains GS3 · Q14Scope of food processing industries and government employment measures in them
- 2022Mains GS3 · Q13Main bottlenecks in upstream and downstream marketing of agricultural products
- 2026Prelims Q29Implications of Oeko-Tex certification for Eri Silk in global markets
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: Lasting scheme worth a card; explainer holds background facts but no fresh decision. Schemes are 52 of 327 Prelims questions, mostly on fresh news.
Worth revising until Prelims 2027: most news questions come within two years of the event.