Retailers form apex body

Leading retailers in India on Tuesday joined hands to form the Retailers Association of India (RAI), on the lines of other industry associations, to develop the retail sector in the country.

The organisation included Pantaloon India, Shoppers' Stop, Trent, RPG Retail, Vivek's, Subhiksha,Globus and Piramyd. The association has appointed Gibson G Vedamani as its chief executive officer. RAI will have a three charter aim of retail development, facilitation and propagation.

"RAI aims at being the voice of Indian retailers. The association will develop, facilitate and propagate practices and processes that will grow the indian retail industry, leading to increased consumption and growth of the economy," Vedamani told reporters here today.

"We will also help various states in formulating retail policies, such as the existing information technology policies, and organise conferences, seminars, training programmes and interaction with government and other bodies," he said.

The retail industry in India is around $200 billion, with a 2 per cent share for the organised sector, which is expected to grow to 5 per cent in three years.

He founding members of the organisation include Vivek Ltd chairman and managing director B A Kodandarama Setty, Shoppers' Stop chief executive officer and managing director B S Nagesh, Trent managing director Noel Tata, Pantaloon Retail (India) managing director Kishore Biyani, Pyramids & Crossroads managing director Krish N Iyer and RPG retail president Raghu pillai among others.

Retail industry is the largest employer after agriculture ""8 per cent to 10 per cent of population. Today, retail consumption stands at Rs 900 000 crore but with value addition it could scale up to Rs 1200,000 crore.