DPIIT working on national retail policy: Union Minister Som Parkash

The commerce ministry has been holding consultations with the industry for a national retail policy to strengthen the overall ecosystem of the sector, Union Minister Som Parkash said on Thursday.

The minister of state for commerce and industry said to create balanced growth in the ecosystem, it is imperative to focus on creating an overarching retail policy for the country.

"Although a few states have created their own retail policies, it is important to have an overarching policy at the central level. DPIIT has been in close consultation with the industry and have been working on a draft National Retail Policy to strengthen the overall ecosystem," he said at a CII webinar.

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He said as retail encompasses a variety of formats across various categories, the creation of a policy that addresses all these segments is a complex exercise.

However, he said, the government is striving to release a policy in the near future and there are three areas that need to be focused on while formulating that.

It should be a cohesive policy that addresses issues of licensing, approvals, labelling and safety, and it should also focus on modernisation and adoption of technology, the minister said.

"We need to focus on helping traditional retail to modernise through the development of back-end infrastructure, payment mechanisms and in-store operations. From the government side, we would like to facilitate the above three areas and help retailers modernise," Parkash said.

The minister also informed that the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is working towards creating a regulatory compliance portal that will act as a bridge for industries and government to minimise burdensome compliances.

"The objective of the portal is to reduce the compliance burden that currently exists and further simplify government interface, while seeking to boost manufacturing, making Indian industry competitive in various areas such as textile and apparels," he added.