Assocham urges govt to liberalise e-com sourcing norms

With the e-commerce market in India touching new heights, industry associations like Assocham have urged the government to liberalize inventory-led business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce business. They say it can lead to the growth of local manufacturing and in turn help the government achieve its aim of boosting the Make in India program in the country.

“Over the last 2-3 years, the e-commerce sector has contributed the maximum growth and manufacturing, especially SMEs in the country have been the direct beneficiaries of this growth trajectory. This is the case when only half of the sector (B2B) is allowed to operate freely. In the scenario of the entire sector (both B2B and B2C) being liberalized, the e-commerce industry would become one of the transforming agents for local manufacturing in the country,” said Bikky Khosla, Chairman, E-commerce Committee, Assocham.

Industry bodies plan to meet both finance minister and commerce minister next week. According to Nasir Jamal, Secretary General, e-commerce Association of India (ECAI), “In a short period of time e-commerce has proved its ability to stimulate local manufacturing especially amongst SMEs/MSMEs. This can gain further traction if the government liberalizes the sector by enabling inventory led e-commerce. The e-commerce companies would be able to source in bulk from the local manufacturers and avail of their benefits in inventory and supply chain practices.”