It was close to one-and-a-half years of work with the Maharashtra government, and thankfully, they have moved fast. At present, we are working with Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and the newest state - Telangana, which would shortly be coming out with its own policy, said Kumar Rajagopalan, chief executive officer, Retailers Association of India.
The Retailers Association of India (RAI), which helped Maharashtra develop a draft policy on retail, is now working with several other states to adopt the policy as a model framework.
"It was close to one-and-a-half years of work with the Maharashtra government, and thankfully, they have moved fast. At present, we are working with Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and the newest state - Telangana, which would shortly be coming out with its own policy," said Kumar Rajagopalan, chief executive officer, Retailers Association of India.
Telangana, Rajagopalan said, has already made a beginning by allowing shops to remain open seven days a week.
Maharashtra, in August, became the first state in the country to come out with a draft policy on retail.
"Apart from Delhi, which always allowed shops to remain open all days, only Maharashtra and Telangana now have this provision. We explained to the state governments why there is no need to shut a shop for a day when every employee would be given a weekly off," he said.
This provision forms part of the 10-point agenda incorporated by the Maharashtra government in its retail policy, which RAI is taking up with the states.
The reason for states to now wake up to formulating a retail policy as a way to attract investments is the employment generating potential of this sector, feels Rajagopalan.
"With 33 million people currently working, retail is the first employment opportunity for many, particularly the students, and also those who are otherwise unemployable elsewhere. It also provides opportunities to women in a big way," he said.
"There are states which don't allow women to work beyond 8.30 pm, a time of the evening when many customers walk in. We are trying to impress upon such states to allow more working hours for women if their safety issues are taken care of. This would have a major impact on the industry as only 20% of retail workforce in India is women against 50% globally."
Apart from these soft issues, RAI is also lobbying with states to change regulations to bring down costs of occupations by raising FSI (Floor Space Index) to cool down rentals and earmarking designated areas for retail operations.
"Globally, retailers pay 3% of their turnover for rentals. Here, it is between 8-12%."
Lower rentals would not only make opening high-street outlets less risky, this would also help warehousing, a crucial requirement for retail industry, which is not allowed in industrial parks where space costs are lower.
Maharashtra's policy would go a long way in bringing in investments into the sector and should be adopted by others, the association CEO said.
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