Odisha Government to formulate retail trade policy soon

Odisha Government is set to formulate a retail trade policy soon as the retail business in the State has picked up in a big way. According to sources, with the proactive approach of the State Government for inviting investments, it has been producing results for Internal Trade.

The new Policy will facilitate a favorable environment for the promotion of retail trade and look after the welfare of the traders engaged in the sector, officials said.
The Policy will take care of ease of doing business, access to credit, adoption of technology, simplification of Acts and Rules, the welfare of traders and creation of organized retail market infrastructure.

With the State Government’s thrust on making Odisha an education and sports hub, aspirations of the youth have resulted in flourishing retail trade in the state, the officials added.

With the changing landscape of retail trade in State, State Government is planning to formulate retail trade policy, which will further boost business, the officials said. Now major players in the retail trade have made inroads into the State and players like Future Group, Reliance Trade, Food Court, NEXUS and several others have their footprint in State.

Malls such as Esplanade One, DN Regalia, Utkal Galleria have come up in Bhubaneswar while such Malls are also coming up in Cuttack, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Berhampur and other cities of the State.

The officials said that the amount of business and manpower involved in retail trade is still an unknown commodity. While it is not in an organized shape, it needs to be put in proper shape to move at a faster pace, they added.

While shops and business establishments are registered under Labor & ESI Department, MSME Department looks after the listing of the micro and small business and collection of tax is carried out by the Commercial Tax Commissioner (CCT).

Only Future Group, a leading retail business entity is eyeing Rs.1000 crore business only in Odisha.
One can easily imagine the level of business growing in retail.

As the Government of India is taking the matter seriously formulating National Retail Trade Policy, the State Government has also moved to prepare a State Policy in this regard, said official sources.

Apart from these big players, there are hundreds of small shop owners and large numbers of street hawkers are engaged in retail business also. Retail markets in rural, urban and industrial zones behave differently and retailers are farming up their business strategies accordingly.

Retail traders in these areas are facing GST problems and there is hardly anyone to guide them. Hence, the State Government will have to take a holistic approach towards the Retail Trade in the State, while formulating the Policy, said a senior officer in the Department of MSME.

With Union Government in the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DoIIT) looking after retail trade, the State Government is also making serious efforts to enable a conducive environment for it. The Policy will provide a frame work for the growing retail market in the State and help in the welfare of the traders, employees.