A study of the expansion of the Organized retailing industry following liberalisation

Abstract: The retail industry in India has established itself as a key contributor to the Indian economy. It accounts for more than 10% of the country's GDP and employs around 8% of the workforce. India is the world's fifth-largest shopping destination (IBEF Report, 2021). The expansion of the organised retail industry has not only aided the growth of the economy, but it has also improved the customer choice portfolio. It shifted the retail industry from a producer-centric to a consumer-centric one. Liberalization policy changed the retail sector drastically with the 1991 economic reforms, which liberalised many of the highly protected public sectors by eliminating entrance obstacles to private involvement and permitting foreign investment in 35 high-priority industrial sectors. While these policies were successful in attracting foreign investment and technology in industrial areas, they capped foreign ownership at 51 percent and left most service industries, including retailing, heavily protected (Csilla Lakatos, Et al, 2013) This paper attempts to analyse and estimate the evolution of the organised retail sector following liberalisation, as well as to comprehend the situation and the elements that have proven to be supporting and unfavourable or hindering the expansion of organised retailing in India.

Keywords: Retail, Liberalization policy, economic reforms, Organized sector, Growth