Taking forward his “Made in Andhra Pradesh” vision on the lines of “Make in India” campaign, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today discussed opportunities to modernize retail business in the State.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Friday, Chandrababu said the retailers like Shoppers’ Stop, Walmart India, Lifestyle International, Future Retail, Trent, Reliance Retail, K. Raheja Group, Aditya Birla and Retailers Association of India participated in the meeting and apprised him of the challenges in opening retail outlets across the State. Under the current policy, if a retailer wants to open a shop in a town or a city, he has to obtain several clearances every time. The retailers have urged the Chief Minister to devise a mechanism which could simplify the process and enable them to open new outlets through some basic guidelines every time they want to set up shop.
The Chief Minister said once a retailer gets approval in the State, a system will be designed to enable the retailer to open multiple outlets just by informing the single-desk (for clearances) and by following basic guidelines.
Replying to retailers’ suggestion to set up ‘Retail Zones’ in the State, the Chief Minister asked them to come up with a plan of action in this regard. Naidu also agreed for 365-day working for outlets where retailers have to abide by Labour laws and create a shift system for employees. Explaining that Andhra Pradesh is poised to become an international logistics hub, he asked retailers to encourage manufacturers to set up units in the State.
On food products, the Chief Minister said the retailers could get food from local areas (for marine, agriculture and dairy products) and sell them for local consumption. Pointing out that retailers face logistics challenges, the CM asked them to bring in world-renowned experts from the field and work on introducing logistics courses in colleges and Universities. On Skill Development Mission, the Chief Minister asked the retailers to train youth and create employment for them.
Retailers Association of India Kumar Rajagopalan said the industry launched a training program through National Skill Development Corporation to asses skills of the candidate, train youth and give certificates to them.
The Chief Minister asked the retailers to take up quality control test and labeling of products made by DWCRA women. He also advised them to take up promotion drive for the products. The Retailers Association of India invited the Chief Minister to attend retailers’ conference in February in Mumbai.
B S Nagesh of Shoppers’ Stop, Murali Lanka of Walmart, Rajneesh of Walmart India, Kabir Lumba of Lifestyle International, Rakesh Biyani of Future Group, Noel Tata of Trent, Venugopal Komanduri of Reliance Retail, Ravindranath of Raheja Group, Ashish Dikshit of Aditya Birla, Kumar Rajagopalan, Gautam Jain and Raghavendra of Retailers Association of India, advisor to AP Government (communication) Dr Parakala Prabhakar, Principal Secretary to CM Satish Chandra and Secretary to CM Sai Prasad were also present in the meeting. (NSS)