The Government Realises the Importance of Domestic Market

Rahul Mehta, Chief Mentor of CMAI on Indiasize, the government’s focus on domestic retail, industry’s asks and more

- Shiv Joshi

The India opportunity for retail business is massive, considering the country's population is over 1.4 billion. And the government is keen on tapping the opportunity by growing retail. It is constantly in dialogue with industry representatives to understand ways to maximise the potential. One such closed door meeting was held at Bharat Tex 2024 at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan.

In a meeting anchored by the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI), Rohit Kansal, IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles discussed 'Retailing for the Future - Capitalising on India Growth Story' with Rahul Mehta, Chief Mentor, CMAI; Harminder Sahni of Wazir Advisors; BS Nagesh, Founder TRRAIN & Chairman, Shoppers Stop; Ashish Dixit, Managing Director, Aditiya Birla & Fashion and Retail Ltd; Lalit Agarwal, Managing Director, V-Mart; Vineet Gautam, Chief Executive Officer, Bestsellers India; Manish Kapoor, Managing Director & CEO, Pepe Jeans London; Amitabh Suri, Chief Executive Officer, Arvind Fashions Ltd.; Sanjay Vakharia, Chief Executive Officer, Spykar Lifestyle; Siddharth Bindra, Managing Director at BIBA Apparels; Nikhil Mohan, Founder, Blackberrys; Anant Daga, Managing Director, TCNS Clothing, Mayank Mohan, Promoter, Mohanlal & Sons and Manjari Upadhyay, CEO Domestic Retail Business, Welspun.

In an exclusive interaction on the sidelines of the event, Mehta of CMAI spoke to IMAGES Retail on the government's focus on the domestic market and retail, industry's asks, innovations in the industry and much more. Edited excerpts...

What potential does the government see in domestic retail?