The foreign direct investment (FDI) in the e-commerce sector should be used for the betterment of infrastructure and not be used to subsidise their products, Sanjeev Gupta, Additional Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), said at a CII event on Tuesday.
Stating that for e-commerce to grow, high speed internet penetration in rural areas is essential, Gupta said: “In a survey of three lakh farmers done by DIPP, we found that only 2 per cent of the farmers had 3G connectivity.”
While there has been a global slowdown, the Indian retail sector is still growing at a good pace, he said, adding that, however, in terms of internet connectivity, the country might be No.2 in the world, but still lags behind in 3G and 4G connectivity.
Stating that there are several challenges such as high real estate costs and lack of quality real estate supply, gripping the sector at present, Madhav B Shriram, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry, Delhi State & Deputy Managing Director, DCM Shriram Industries Ltd, said: “There is requirement of an integrated approach toward retail development in the country, with involvement of stakeholders such as the government, developers and the retail industry.”
Shopping festivalMeanwhile, Delhi’s Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra said a shopping festival would be organised in many shopping hubs of Delhi along the lines of the Dubai Shopping Festival and the Edinburgh Shopping Festival “Delhi will soon have single-window clearance for retailers,” he said