Formulation of national retail trade policy underway: Govt

The commerce and industry ministry is formulating a national retail trade policy and aims to take a decision in this regard at an early date, Parliament was informed Wednesday.

"Necessary steps for formulation of a national retail trade policy are underway. The government aims to take a decision in this regard at an early date," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Hardeep Singh Puri said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

He said a number of interactions with industry, trade associations, ministries concerned and states have been held by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to consider issues facing retail sector and possible solutions for resolving them.

In a separate reply, the minister said the US imposed additional customs duties of 25 per cent and 10 per cent on certain steel and aluminium products, respectively in March 2018 on a global basis.

"While India's steel export in the affected lines to US declined 35 per cent during 2018-19 compared to 2017-18, aluminium exports in the affected lines have increased 14 per cent during the same period," he said.