The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has sought views of 16 departments and ministries on its draft national retail trade policy, which is aimed at overall development of all formats of the sector, an official said.

After getting comments of all the departments and ministries, DPIIT would seek approval of the Union Cabinet on the policy, the official added.

The policy would focus on formulating strategies to provide a globally competitive and sustainable environment for overall development of retail trade through targeted efforts.

Also read: Global economic developments expected to complicate outlook for Indian economy: Finance ministry report

The objectives of the policy include ensuring easy and quick access to affordable credit, facilitating modernisation and digitisation of retail trade by promoting modern technology and superior infrastructural support; development of physical infrastructure across the distribution chain; promotion of skill development and to improve labour productivity, and providing an effective consultative and grievance redressal mechanism for the sector.

India is the world’s fifth-largest global destination in the retail space.

According to a report of CII-Kearney on retail, a cohesive national retail policy can help generate 30 lakh more jobs by 2024. The report was released in November 2020. The retail industry is likely to see 10 per cent annual growth to reach about USD 2 trillion by 2032, according to a BCG-RAI report.

Also read: Electric buses in cities can help reduce ticket prices by 30%: Nitin Gadkari