Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary Amitabh Kant said that direct selling will have to be given a greater thrust as it empowers women, MSMEs and promotes manufacturing in India.

At FICCI DIRECT 2015, an annual flagship event for Direct Selling (DS) industry. Kant said that the industry has a potential to grow to INR 1000 billion by 2025 much beyond the FICCI-KMPG report projection of INR 645 billion.

Acknowledging the need for clarity in definition of direct selling and a separate regulatory framework for the industry, Kant said that DIPP has already submitted the draft guidelines to Ministry of Consumer Affairs for the direct selling industry and is hopeful for its implementation by various states.

He urged the industry to embrace technology as the industry can deliver better and even faster once technology becomes its strength.

Direct selling, one of the oldest and traditional forms of selling, is today a successful industry operating in over 100 countries, with a market size of USD 180 billion.

In India, the market was estimated at INR 75 billion (2013-14), and forms around 0.4 per cent of the total retail sales in the country. To showcase the potential and highlight the opportunities and challenges faced by the DS industry, FICCI organizes its annual event on Direct Selling ‘DIRECT’ every year.

During last year’s edition of DIRECT, Minister of Consumer Affairs Shri. Ram Vilas Paswan promised the formation of an Inter-Ministerial committee (IMC) on Direct Selling to develop the regulatory framework for this industry, which he delivered. IMC was immediately formed after the announcement in our last year’s edition of DIRECT. FICCI is fortunate to be the knowledge partner for the IMC for developing regulatory structure for this industry.

Further on the occasion, Dr. A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI said “Indian Direct Selling Industry” is an important component of the Indian economy and acknowledging this, we at FICCI through our focused task force on direct selling is working dedicatedly towards the growth of this industry and seeking regulatory clarity for this new industry. FICCI is working closely with the Central and State Governments on the same and today’s conference is a step in that direction. Today, we have launched the FICCI-KPMG report on the current state and contribution of Direct Selling industry in various states. This would be a reservoir of information on how this industry is contributing towards the development of various parts of India.

During the event, he assured Mr. Kant that FICCI would deliver a white paper on “Technology for Direct Selling”.

Image Courtesy : economictimes.indiatimes