RAI says government has provided inadequate support for retail sector in Union Budget

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Feb 3, 2022

The Retailers Association of India has praised some aspects of the new government budget but said that is has provided inadequate support for the retail sector to help it recover from the pandemic. 

The Indian retail sector, including fashion and lifestyle stores across the country, faced months of almost no income during lockdowns over the past two years and is in dire need to financial support, according to the RAI. However, the Union Budget for 2022 to 2023 does not include such support, the traders’ body announced and it also failed to provide adequate relief for individual income taxpayers to propel consumption, it said. 
 
“The good news, however, is that no additional surprise taxes have been imposed and this will help maintain the status quo as far as taxation is concerned,” said the RAI’s CEO Kumar Rajagopalan, ET Retail reported. 

“Additionally, the initiatives around urban planning, rural development, infrastructure development, and logistics and transportation will ease the movement of people and resources and facilitate faster distribution for retail,” said Rajagopalan. 

Although Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chose to extend the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme for the hospitality sector until March 2023, she did not extend it for retail businesses. The RAI welcomed the move for restaurants but said that it should have also been extended to other forms of retail as these were also severely affected by lockdowns during the pandemic.