Open FDI in E-commerce Retail Completely, says DIPP

India needs to open up the e-commerce retail trade for foreign players completely as the country cannot remain behind in the sector, a top government official said on 22 May.

“Absolutely. Each e-commerce players actually want the sector to be opened up. They are young players and all of them want to grow and expand and they are facing huge problem of liquidity. I think, we just need to open up this e-commerce fully.

“The whole world has moved on e-commerce. Why should India remain behind in this sector,” Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Amitabh Kant said.

He said the DIPP has concluded stakeholders’ consultation on the issue and now is the time to decision making.

“We will put this before the new government. They will take the call,” he added.

Google, Amazon and Flipkart, among other stakeholders, favoured permitting FDI in e-commerce retailing.

India’s FDI policy restricts e-commerce companies from offering services directly to retail consumers. At present, 100 per cent FDI is allowed in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce but not in retail trading.

In its manifesto, BJP had said no to FDI in retail. The government allowed 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retailing in September 2012 with certain conditions like 30 per cent mandatory sourcing requirement from small industries.

Global mega-stores had asked the Indian government to relax these conditions.