Nirmala Sitharaman mulls huddle with e-tailers on FDI

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government appears to be mulling to throw open the Indian e-commerce sector to foreign direct investment. In an attempt to collect industry’s inputs, commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman will on Thursday meet all stakeholders, including industry chambers like CII, Ficci and IT lobby Nasscom on foreign direct investment  (FDI) in e-commerce retailing.

Representatives from Indian e-commerce majors such as Flipkart and Snapdeal may also be present in the meeting. Currently, the FDI is not allowed in e-commerce at the retail level. So most of the e-commerce firms, which have foreign investment, are currently working through a marketplace model, where they don’t own the inventory. If the government allows FDI in e-commerce, the Indian e-commerce companies may witness a complete chan-ge in the business model.

India is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in Asia-Pacific along with China. The rise in internet penetration, adoption of smartphones and lower data rates are completely changing the way Indians shop.