Comments
In an attempt to dispel the impression of ‘policy paralysis', the Government is fast-tracking the process for a decision on foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retailing.
It has also indicated that a proposal for increasing FDI in single brand retail might be considered simultaneously by the Cabinet.
A senior official told Business Line , “The proposal for allowing FDI in multi-brand retail has been sent for inter-ministerial consultations. Our effort would be to collate the views and present the proposal before the Cabinet as early as possible.”
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is steering the proposal.
According to the official, there has been lot of discussion on increasing the FDI limit to 100 per cent in single brand retail. The Committee of Secretaries, in its meeting held on July 22, had proposed that FDI in multi-brand retail trade be permitted up to 51 per cent. This could cover the sale of unbranded products, it had added.
It had also said that at least half of the investment could be in back-end infrastructure which would be suitably defined by DIPP. It was advised to include design improvement, quality control mechanism and packaging in the definition. The Committee had also felt that the minimum FDI to be brought into a project should be $100 million.
It had recommended that retail sales locations be set up only in the cities with more than 10 lakh population (Census of 2011). There are 51 such cities.
Allowing FDI in multi brand retail will require the free movement of agricultural produce. In this regard, the Committee had advised the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation to urge the States to expedite reforms in the Agriculture Produce Marketing (APMC) Act.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.