New Delhi [India], August 20 : Seeking to cut red tape and speed up expansion plans, top leaders from the retail and FMCG sectors on Wednesday urged the government to simplify compliance processes through a common portal, rationalise GST rates, and streamline licensing norms.
Speaking at FICCI's 14th edition of Massmerize on the theme 'Make in India: Powering the Future of FMCG, Retail and E-Commerce', Lalit Agarwal, Co-Chair, FICCI Retail and Internal Trade Committee and MD of V-Mart Retail, said fragmented regulations across states and local bodies continue to slow down retail expansion.
"As retailers, we are operating across 23 states, and the biggest challenge is navigating multiple lawsmunicipal, panchayat, state and central. While digitisation has helped, we still need a single, centralised portal for approvals. If we are opening 90-100 stores in a year, often across 20 or 30 states, reaching out separately to each authority becomes a huge impediment. A one-stop system for licenseswhether trade, shop and establishment, labour or fire safetywould reduce opening time and support faster expansion," Agarwal said.
Ankur Goel, Co-Founder and COO of Epigamia, pushed for a dedicated GST council mechanism for innovative food categories such as functional yogurts and proteins, to avoid ambiguities.
"We support transparency for consumers, but product labelling and GST classification need more clarity so innovation is not stifled," he noted.
Ajay Suri, CEO of Vestige, pointed out ambiguities in GST slabs for nutraceuticals and wellness products, which often fall between food and pharma.
He suggested rationalising GST rates into fewer slabssuch as 5, 12 and 18 per centto remove confusion, reduce vendor mismatches, and pass on benefits to consumers.
Legal and compliance challenges were also flagged by Srikkanth Gopishetty, Group General Counsel of RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, who called for better categorisation of inspections and reduced harassment from overlapping enforcement.
Responding to these concerns, Himani Pande, Additional Secretary, DPIIT, said the government is pushing ahead with decriminalisation of laws, deregulation committees, and a comprehensive review of licenses to improve ease of doing business.
She urged industry players to give specific inputs on bottlenecks, noting that "generic feedback makes action difficult, but targeted suggestions can help us simplify rules and extend license validity."
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