Centre says that special emphasis is placed on assessing the requirement of licenses, removal of renewal requirement, inspection reforms, and facilitating public service delivery
Following consultations with various stakeholders, including central ministries, departments and major Industry and trade associations, the Centre has prepared a draft national retail trade policy, Minister of State (MoS) for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada told Parliament.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Prasada highlighted that the draft national retail trade policy focuses on preparing strategies for the overall development of retail trade through targeted efforts to promote ease of doing business in the retail sector. This is through several measures to reduce the compliance burden, enhance ease of access to credit and decriminalisation of minor offences for all formats of retail trade.
“Special emphasis is placed on assessing the requirement of licenses, removal of renewal requirement, inspection reforms, facilitating public service delivery, creation of single window facilitation mechanism,” the MoS added in the official response.
Prasada was replying to the questions raised by Praveen Khandelwal, member of Parliament from Chandni Chowk and Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (Cait). He sought clarity in the Lok Sabha on whether the government is formulating a national trade policy with specific provisions for small and micro traders, the nature of consultations held, and whether feedback from traditional market hubs like Chandni Chowk has been incorporated.
Khandelwal welcomed the government’s recognition of the role of traders in India’s economic fabric and emphasised that inputs from traditional and heritage markets such as Chandni Chowk must be integral to the final policy framework.
He stated that micro and small traders are not just economic contributors but also custodians of India’s cultural and commercial heritage. He added that policy reform for retail trade should not be limited to ease of doing business alone and must also preserve the vibrancy of traditional bazaars while enabling them to compete in the modern economy.
