Organised retail should grow together with old players: Prabhu

The organised retail sector should not displace mom & pop stores but help create more employment opportunities besides offering wide range of products at reasonable price, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said today.
Addressing a CII conference here, the minister said the government is in the process of making policies to boost growth of every sector, including retail.
He said the retail trade has a huge potential and this industry will play an important role in the growth of manufacturing, agriculture and even services sectors.
"Retail business must take into account the social issues. The organised retail should be done in a manner that it does not affect the social challenges. They should create more employment, should not displace the retailer who already are in business for years," Prabhu said.

Organised retail should add value to the business and must create employment, he said, adding that they should provide customers varied choice and offer good price.
Prabhu said when big corporates entered the retail sector, there was fear that it will create conflict.

"There is a need to understand complementarity between the so called organised retail and large scale retailers working in India from a long time...They must grow hand in hand, without creating conflict," Prabhu said.
He emphasised on adopting policies that will help create an ecosystem for retail business to expand and grow at even faster pace.
Stating that there are huge opportunities in retail trade, the minister said the organised retail with huge capital and unorganised retail should partner to create win- win situation for growth of the entire sector.

He also favoured competition among retailers as this would benefit consumers.
Prabhu observed that the retail sector in India has been in private hands from centuries and they are driving growth.
The minister said the growth in retail sector would also boost manufacturing, agriculture and even services sector as retailers market all the products.
Prabhu asked the retail industry to focus on creating proper supply chain and cited example of huge loss of fruits and vegetables
due to lack of cold storage.
He said the government is planning to create a hub from where vegetables and fruits can be exported, and mentioned that the ministry is in talks with Civil Aviation Ministry for this purpose.

On growing e-commerce sector, Prabhu said online trade has immense opportunities and could be a game changer.