Originally published January 27th 2013
Industry body Assocham has inquired the government to withdraw
the ban on foreign direct investment in retail e-commerce business.
DS Rawat, Assocham secretary general, has written to Telecom and IT
minister Kapil Sibal looking for his support in take off current
limitation on Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce.
As per the existing standards, e-commerce companies involved in
business-to-business trade, like marketing materials or bulk good
to business firms are permitted to drill up to 100 per cent FDI in
their company. In December 2012, a major Indian e-commerce firm had
come under reviewer of enforcement directorate for supposed offense
of the present FDI norms. Rawat said that figured revenue from this
sector is likely to be about $15 billion by 2015 and can lead to
broader reach of farmers and other domestic merchandise firms,
helping them recognize better worth of their products.
