Not planning to review FDI policy on e-comm any time soon

The government Wednesdaysaid there is no proposal under consideration to review the foreign direct investment policy on the e-commerce sector.

"At present, there is no proposal under consideration of the government to review the FDI policy on business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce,"Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Global retail giants like Amazon wants India to relax the foreign investment norms in e-commerce space. India's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy restricts e-commerce companies from offering services directly to retail consumers.

At present, 100 per cent FDI is allowed in business -to-business (B2B) e-commerce but not in retail trading. In a separate reply, the Minister said the government has not taken any decision with regard to implementation of FDI policy in the multi-brand retail trading.

Currently, as per the policy, 51 per cent FDI is allowed in the multi-brand retail sector. In another reply, Sitharaman said an action plan has been developed for improvement of regulatory environment and increasing ease of doing business in the states.

"States have been requested to complete action by June 30," she said.

The government has said it wants to improve India's position to top-50 in terms of ease of doing business from 142nd currently, as per the latest World Bank report in this regard.