Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said here on Monday that the government was formulating a comprehensive retail policy to give a boost to the sector with a large employment potential and it was the first State to undertake such an exercise.

Speaking on Day 2 of the three-day Partnership Summit being organised by his government and the CII, he said organised retailing accounted for only 8 per cent of the market and “there is an imperative need to promote organised retailing in view of its enormous employment potential and also to provide quality products to customers at reasonable prices.”

He said MoUs had been signed with four groups — Wal-Mart, Future, Aravind Lifestyle and Spencer — for setting up projects in the State with a combined investment of ₹1,500 crore.

Retail innovation call Naidu said Wal-Mart had faced some initial problems in the State, but they had been sorted out.

He called for innovative ways of retailing and suggested that the companies make use of self-help groups of women in the State to sell their products in the rural areas. Organised retailing would have to make forays into rural India, he said.

Earlier, during a session on retailing, Kishore Biyani, CEO of Future Group; Visakh Kumar, CEO of Aditya Birla group; Krish Iyer, CEO of Wal-Mart India; Neel Raheja, group president of Raheja Corporation; Aloke Dubey of Aravind Brands, and Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO of Retailers' Association of India, participated.

Krish Iyer said it was a misconception that big retailers would gobble up kirana shops and “in fact the kirana shops would be strengthened as they can sell quality products to customers at cheaper prices.” He said his company had three stores in AP and was planning to open 15 more in due course. His company was also working with farmers in the State and it would source produce from them.

He felt there should be no restrictions on retailers and 24-hour shopping should be allowed in the country. Retailing should be given industry status, as the land costs were high. He said then the industry can get land and power at cheaper rates.

Kishore Biyani said the industry was over-regulated. “I sometimes wonder whether there is any regulation in the country which does not apply to the retailing sector, he rued.” He said the AP government had done the right thing by announcing a clear policy and making life easier for the retailers.

Vishak Kumar said there was a need to train the young people for the retail sector and make them employable. Neel Raheja said there were too few shopping malls in the country and the sector would have to go a long way.

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