Aim for USD 1 trillion retail market, experts tell India

Visakhapatnam: Captains of the organised retail market conducted a case study on the opportunities emerging in the retail market in India and AP on the second day of the CII-Summit here on Monday.
The panel of experts consisting of Krish Iyer, president Walmart India, Neel Raheja of K Raheja Corporation, Kishore Biryani CEO of Future Group, Vishak Kumar, CEO Aditya Birla Group and Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI (Retailers Association of India), congratulated AP for ensuring a retail policy within six months of being approached by RAI.Later, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu also signed MoUs for Rs 1,500 crore with Spencers, Walmart Future Group and Arvind Group.
Earlier, during the session the speakers said India would move from being a USD 700 billion market with an 8% organised retail outlet presence into a USD 1 trillion market in the next few years.
The speakers stressed on the need to help ease distribution by reducing the number of intermediaries, cut down on real estate costs to bring in profitability. Krish Iyer also noted that the number of restrictions on retail outlets, some of which date back to the early 1900s, must also be lifted to enable a 24/7 retail market.
Chief minister Naidu said the retail market can grow if the chains tie-up with small farmers and various women's groups in the state to help them market their products in the rural belt. He further added that in the coming years, e-retail would go up, especially in states like AP which will have proper connectivity.