The government is to set up a committee to look into all issues, including foreign direct investment norms, pertaining to the fast growing e-commerce industry in the country.
The committee will be headed by the NITI Aayog CEO. The other members in the panel include officials from the commerce and industry ministry and department of electronics and IT, among others.
“It will look at all the issues, including FDI pertaining to the e-commerce sector. The committee would suggest ways to further promote the growth of the sector,” an official said.
Representatives from four states, including Maharashtra and Karnataka, are also members of the panel. Some e-commerce firms are facing taxation-related problems in a few states.
Setting up of this panel assumes significance as the government recently permitted 100 per cent FDI in the food processing sector. There are also issues related to ecommerce players selling pharmaceuticals.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has allowed 100 per cent FDI through the automatic route in the marketplace format of e-commerce retailing in March.
According to the guidelines, FDI has not been permitted in the inventory-based model of e-commerce.