At the  Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) India Retail Summit 2020, Shashwat Goenka, Chairman, CII National Committee  said that a cohesive national retail policy would go a long way in reviving the sector and help generate up to 30 lakh additional job in the country.

Anil Agarwal, Joint Secretary Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade Ministry of Commerce & Industry released a CII-Kearney report titled “National Retail Policy- To Enable the Next Wave of Retail Growth" at the summit. 

The CII-Kearney report details the critical areas that the cohesive model retail policy needs to pay attention to, across five building blocks:

1. Streamlining approvals and compliance mechanisms to improve ease of doing business,

2. Improving access to capital, especially for traditional retailers and smaller players

3. Rapid adoption of technology and modernization by traditional retailers

4. Bridging logistics and supply chain infrastructure gaps, and

5. Enhancing labour participation and productivity.

The government can act as a catalyst by rolling out a cohesive model retail policy to reinvigorate the sector and unlock next phase of growth. The report highlights the key Government interventions and potential incentives that can help create an inclusive environment for traditional retailers, boost attractiveness for investment and create a win-win situation for various players in the industry, consumers and the Government.

Subhendu Roy, Partner, Kearney said, “The CII-Kearney report outlines supply-side policy interventions to drive retail growth. A National Retail Policy is needed to streamline approvals and compliance mechanisms, improve access to capital, enable technology led modernization, bridge infrastructure gaps in retail and increase labor participation and productivity.” 

Goenka, Chairman, CII National Committee on Retail & Sector, Head – Retail & FMCG, RP - Sanjiv Goenka Group said, “A National Retail Policy needs to be rolled out with immediate effect that brings all forms of retail under one umbrella. There are four crucial areas that the policy needs to pay attention to; Ease of doing business, Modernization and adoption of technology, Access to Capital, Employee Upskilling. These four areas would be able to better aid the retail sector through trying times while creating an inclusive an holistic environment for the segment to thrive.”