RAI to help boost retail sector in Andhra Pradesh

The Retailers Association of India (RAI) will help boost the fast growing retail sector in Andhra Pradesh especially in upcoming cities, besides promoting the state as an investment destination for retail and allied sectors, an official said on Monday.

The CEO of Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB), J. Krishna Kishore, signed a MoU with the RAI CEO Kumar Rajagopalan in Mumbai for the initiative in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

With this, the APEDB and RAI will join hands to encourage, facilitate, support and partner retailers to modernize, expand and adopt best practices across technology, logistics, warehousing and infrastructure.

They will also collaborate on promoting Andhra Pradesh as an investment destination among the retail investors and allied sectors, improve policies, regulations and standards designed to foster growth and development retail and related sectors in the state.

"The MoU is a step in right direction as rising incomes, increasing tastes and preferences, emerging markets in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities make Andhra Pradesh an attractive destination for retailers," said Kishore.

"Andhra Pradesh is standing on the threshold of a 'retail revolution' and this collaboration will help give an impetus to the retail industry there," noted Rajagopalan.

The Indian retail market is estimated to be worth around Rs 47 lakh crore with a 7 per cent growth, but a significant share of the market remains untapped by modern retail which promises a huge opportunity for the country, especially Andhra Pradesh.

--IANS

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