India retail bill pushes for 24/7 trade

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Jul 5, 2016

A new law in India permitting retailers to remain open 24/7 could lead to a 10 percent growth in jobs in the short term across retail, IT and the services sector, according to retail industry insiders.

“Retail and hospitality are the key sectors that will benefit from this kind of flexibility directly and immediately,” said Moorthy K Uppaluri, MD & CEO, Randstad India, told local newspaper Times of India.

The total number of people employed by the retail industry could go up by 50 percent to 6 crore (60 million) by 2020, Retailers Association of India CEO, Kumar Rajagopalan told local media. At present, the retail industry employs 4 crore (40 million) people.

The Model Shops and Establishment (regulation of employment and condition of services) Bill also plans to make things easier for employers to have women working night shifts, increasing gender diversity in the sector.

If adopted, along with a comprehensive retail policy, the bill would also provide opportunities for women to take part in the growth of Indian retail, which stands for 92 percent of the nation's industry

According Times of India, gender diversity in the Indian retail sector is just 20-23 per cent, which is way below the global average of 50%.