CAIT urges Odisha to frame policy on retail trade

“Says the state govt also needs to have a separate ministry for internal trade to ensure and monitor structured growth of trade in Odisha”

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has called upon the Odisha government to formulate a state specific policy for retail trade. The state government also needs to have a separate ministry for internal trade to ensure and monitor structured growth of trade in Odisha, said a CAIT release.

Opposing any move to bring in FDI in retail and e-commerce business, CAIT stressed on framing of separate guidelines for e-commerce business in the country.

CAIT recently organised a two-day national trade conference in Puri that was attended by more than 200 leaders from 24 states. The conference was chaired by CAIT national president B C Bhartia.

The confederation is of the view that if FDI is allowed in retail or e-commerce, it will convert the country’s retail market into a versatile dumping yard much to the disadvantage of local trade and SMEs (small & medium enterprises) sector.

“Currently, under the umbrella of e-commerce businesses in India, the e-retailers are selling products much below the actual price of the manufacturer. This is possible only because of funding received from overseas. The government must put an end to this by issuing suitable guidelines and follow its anti-dumping policies which are already practiced in other sectors”, Praveen Khandelwal, national secretary general, CAIT stated in a recent letter to chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

At the recent CAIT conference, trade leaders expressed deep concern over delay in roll out of Goods & Service Tax (GST) while taking a strong note of the roadblocks being created by the political fraternity. The trade leaders called upon all political parties to allow smooth passage for passing of GST Bill in Parliament since GST assumes much significance for traders and will relieve them from multiple taxes and multiple authorities. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley should enter into a straight dialogue with the traders to address their concerns, they felt.