The government is preparing a national retail trade policy to provide brick-and-mortar shops with a business-friendly environment, modern infrastructure facilities and easy access to credit, the joint secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Sanjiv, said on Monday.

The policy aims to provide a globally competitive and sustainable environment for the overall development of the retail trade.

The DPIIT, he said, is also working to bring an e-commerce policy for online retailers. “We want that there should be a synergy between e-commerce as well as retail traders,” Sanjiv said at an event organised by industry body Ficci here.

The department is also preparing an insurance scheme for all the retail traders. The accident insurance scheme would help small traders.

The main objective of the draft national retail trade policy is the facilitation of the modernisation and digitisation of retail trade plus streamlining retail trade and development in all formats.

The policy seeks to focus on the development of physical infrastructure across the distribution chain, promotion of skill development and improving labour productivity.

An interesting facet of the proposed new policy is the focus on traders’ welfare. Besides specifying accident insurance, the draft covers pension schemes for traders, self-employed persons and shopkeepers. It has also proposed a national traders’ welfare board.

Sanjiv said the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) initiative of the government would change the entire ecosystem of e-commerce and break the hegemony of the e-commerce giants.

The Indian retail market is one of the fastest growing in the world and is expected to reach $2 trillion by 2032, according to Reliance Retail director Subramaniam V.

The market is estimated at $844 billion in 2022 with the unorganised sector contributing around 87 per cent, he said.

Subramaniam said the unorganised segment is highly fragmented and lacks modern-day infrastructure and technology due to smaller volume and financial resources.

He said there was a need to build an operating environment which promoted inclusive and sustainable growth for the sector.