Piyush Goyal says India not against e-commerce, but wants fair play

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

A day after slamming Amazon and other e-commerce companies for dabbling in predatory pricing practices, India's Trade Minister Piyush Goyal toned down the tirade as he clarified that the government is not against online platforms, but wants fair play.

"What the country only desires is fair play and honesty to the customer and supplier of goods and services. And to ensure our people also has a fair chance to compete against such online businesses," Goyal said, adding that India is "not against online at all."

The latest take is a significantly toned-down version from his August 21-speech wherein he said that the exponential growth of e-commerce in India is a matter of concern rather than pride given its impact on brick-and-mortar stores operating in the country.

On August 21 at an event in Delhi, Goyal said that massive investments by Amazon in India is no cause for celebrations as the money only fills the company’s losses.

He had further remarked that Amazon incurred huge losses because it follows predatory pricing.

A day later during an address in Mumbai, Goyal in an attempt to step back on his offense said, "online e-commerce has tremendous benefits, it has the benefit of convenience, it has the convenience of speed."

In India, global e-commerce companies can operate independently as marketplace businesses. However, foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations prohibit global retail companies from operating independently in offline retail. FDI in multi-brand retail is allowed only up to 51 percent and that too with local partnerships. Even then, government approval is required.

"We are very clear that we want to invite FDI, we want to invite technology, we want to invite the best of the world. And we are not against online at all. We want to invite online to come here and serve all of you," Goyal assuaged.