Formulation of the National e-Commerce Policy and the New Industrial Policy under Consideration of the Government

The formulation of the National e-Commerce policy and the new Industrial Policy is under consideration of the Government.

The draft National e-commerce policy seeks to create a facilitative regulatory environment for growth of e-commerce sector. It is aimed at empowering domestic entrepreneurs and to encourage Make in India while safeguarding interests of the consumers and facilitating job creation. 

The proposed new Industrial policy seeks to boost competitiveness and growth of the manufacturing sector in India.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has introduced the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, which inter alia, seeks to specify the flow and usage of personal data, defines sensitive data and aims to create a framework for organisational and technical measures in processing of data, laying down norms for cross-border transfer and accountability of entities processing personal data.

On the 23rd February, 2019, the first draft of the National e-Commerce policy was placed in public domain for comments/ suggestions. Comments from over 120 stakeholders (companies both Indian and foreign, Industry associations, think tanks, foreign governments) were received.

A series of meetings have been held at the level of Secretary, DPIIT with different stakeholders, including major e-commerce companies, start-ups, industry associations, think-tanks, academicians etc. as well as data centre providers, logistics companies, export promotion councils to discuss the issues facing the sector and the provisions contained in the draft Policy.

Since e-Commerce is a new issue, it has necessitated detailed consultations over the last few months to ensure that the policy is crafted in a manner that interests of all stakeholders are taken in to account. Therefore, no timeline has been fixed for release of the same.

With regard to the new Industrial Policy, a Working Group has been constituted with representation from Central Ministries/Departments, State Governments, and industry associations. The Working Group is chaired by Secretary, DPIIT. The first meeting of the Working Group was held on 24th October, 2019 under the Chairmanship of Secretary, DPIIT. Inter-ministerial consultation is currently going on for framing the new Industrial Policy.

This information was given by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 18 March 2020.