Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, on Friday said the ‘National Retail Trade Policy’ is under formulation in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, he said comprehensive stakeholder consultation in all the States through FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, PHDCCI and other trade and commerce associations are being conducted to get feedback on the needs and demand of small traders.

A Video Conference of Minister of Commerce and Industry with representatives of Industry Associations, Export Organizations and Traders Organizations was held on 18.02.2019, which was attended by more than 10,000 participants from 42 NIC Centers and 29 other locations across the country.

Stakeholder consultations were also held under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, on 25.06.2019 to consider issues facing the retail sector and possible solutions for resolving them.

As regards e-Commerce, the Government of India in the Department of Commerce established a Think Tank on “Framework for National Policy on E-commerce” and a Task Force under it, which deliberated on the challenges confronting India in the arena of the digital economy and e-commerce.

The Think Tank was further divided into various sub-groups, comprising representation from technical experts in the Government and from industry members with domain knowledge.

A draft National e-Commerce policy has been prepared and placed in public domain. Comments from various stakeholders (companies, Industry associations, think tanks, foreign governments) have been received.

Meetings have been held under the chairmanship of Minister for Commerce & Industry with industry stakeholders, e-Commerce companies, associations of kirana stores, traders and retailers to discuss matters relating to e-commerce.