Budget 2018: From FDI to unified market, challenges ahead for retail sector
Key challenges
Multiplicity of laws & regulations governing the sector
Lack of industry status for retail
Lack of clarity and understanding of regulations/guidelines governing online retail trading leading to ambiguities and hurdles for the e-commerce sector
Lack of access to organised funding, especially to small retailers
What industry wants
National Retail Policy: A single retail policy will help streamline various laws and regulations affecting the retail sector
Unified National Market: To be globally competitive, India needs to adopt a ‘unified market’ approach to the retail sector – minimise licences required and establish a system of single-window clearance. The game-changing GST will help
Rationalisation of FDI: While the government has given the necessary push to ‘Make in India’ in food retail, it would help if non-food ‘Make in India’ retail category can also witness a liberalised FDI policy
SBRT and MBRT: The SBRT and MBRT frameworks need to be defined in the FDI policy. Divisions could be on the basis of nature or formats of retail
Industry status: This will improve access to funding to MSME retailers, especially amid high pressure with growing competition from organised retail and e-commerce
PwC POINT OF VIEW
Akash Gupt, partner and leader regulatory services, PwC India
We look forward to a national policy for retail to complement growth of various channels
It will provide the right stimulus to both domestic and foreign investments in the sector.
A conducive regulatory environment for offline and online retailers will help build ‘New India’, benefiting consumers, industry and economy at large
J Suresh, MD & CEO, Arvind Lifestyle BrandsJ SureshIndustry voice
After the GST, the key support for the retail sector will come from policies that stimulate consumption. For example, a reduction in direct taxes will increase disposable income and lead to more consumption
Incentives for investment will encourage both industry and generate jobs. A big push on infra investment will help push job growth and consumption
Before Union Budget 2018-19, Business Standard looks at the key sectors of the economy and what they expect Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to do to improve their business in the coming financial year Comprehensive coverage of Union Budget 2018-19: http://www.business-standard.com/budget