e-commerce startups welcome 100 percent automatic FDI move

A slew of startups on Thursday lauded the government allowing 100 FDI in e-commerce through the automatic route clause, terming it a move in the right direction.

Anish Basu Roy, co-founder of On-cloud Marketplace, said: "I think it is a step in the right direction. FDI investments in the ecommerce marketplace model stand to eventually benefit thousands of small businesses and suppliers through better market access and world-class technology."

Angel fund YourNest founder and CEO Sunil K. Goyal said the government has given clarity with the FDI move which has potential to attract investments not only in online marketplaces but also offline.

"This will impart transparency in transaction volumes enabling higher government revenues. The SME sectors as well as unexplored target segments such as farmers, rural India and regional players selling in the marketplaces will now get further boost and shall see more investment commitments," he said.

Online jewellery player Bluestone.com founder and CEO Gaurav Singh Kushwaha feels the government has recognised e-commerce sector with the latest move.

"It is good that the government has given recognition to the e-commerce sector and clearly differentiated the various models such as marketplace, inventory led, manufacturers and manufacturers with single brand," he said.

He added that these guidelines are a positive step towards providing clarity to the fast growing e-commerce sector.

Offbeat products e-commerce platform Kraftly co-founder Saahil Goel said the 100 percent FDI through automatic route is welcome regulation for the sector.

"It will curb unrealistic online discounting by the large B2C horizontal marketplaces and will level the playing field for all retailers," he said.

The startup enabling 20,000 offline retailers to sell their wares through its platform believes the move will allow individual and small brands to prosper in the e-commerce market by empowering them to compete fairly on price.

Nidhi Agarwal, founder and CEO of Kaaryah, a lifestyle solutions startup catering to women's non-casual wear offering up to 18 different sizes, welcomed the move but also called for other important decisions to be made.

"Implementation of GST and a transparent tax regime will make it easier for us to raise funds as well as to sell our product across countries," she said.