The rating agency ICRA in its latest report has recommended the government to revisit its restrictive retail foreign direct investment (FDI) policy as India has not been able to get sizeable investments despite opportunities. Citing examples of other emerging geographies to allay concerns, it said both organised and unorganised retail sectors can co-exist. It pointed out that, currently, the multi-brand retail sector remains most restrictive to FDI with a cap of 51 percent ownership and guidelines relating to mandatory investments in back-end infrastructure and local sourcing norms.
ICRA has stated that data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion showed that between 2000 to 2018, Indian retail attracted about $1.4 billion in foreign direct investment, which was only 0.36 percent of the overall FDI inflows. It also said that a population of over 1.3 billion with favourable demographics and a rising middle class present a big opportunity for foreign retailers, who have actually evinced interest. It added that restrictive nature of the retail FDI policy has curtailed the foreign retailers' operations.
According to the report, there remains on-ground opposition for multi-brand retail from local traders, who fear risk of being thwarted by the deep pockets and increased competition from foreign players. Pitching for relaxation in inter-segmental restrictions for multi-brand retail, it said India needs to up the caps on foreign ownership in the segment. It added that there is limited domestic capital being invested in the sector and FDI flows can bridge capital deficit and remove the supply chain inefficiencies.
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