Lok Sabha Question No. 1554 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-28
Subject: Boost to e-Commerce Sector
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Sandhya Ray, Krishna Pal Singh Yadav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT FOR PROMOTION OF INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL TRADE

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1554. TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 28 TH  JULY, 2021.

## BOOST TO e-COMMERCE SECTOR

1554.  SHRIMATI SANDHYA RAY: DR. KRISHNA PAL SINGH YADAV:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state:

## वाणिज्य  एवं उद्योग मंत्री

- (a) whether the Government accepts that India is a big market in e-commerce, fintech, smart manufacturing and health sector;
- (b) if so, the efforts being made by the Government to boost the said sectors;
- (c) the manner in which 'GIFT' city is providing boost to foreign investment in the country;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to establish more such cities in the country and if so, the outlines thereof;
- (e) the Indian institutes (private and public) which have played key role in foreign investment during the last one year; and
- (f) whether the Government has fixed any target/ made any provision to create employment opportunities for youths in this field and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## वाणिज्य  एवं उद्योग मंत्रालय में राज्य मंत्री (श्री सोम प्रकाश) THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI SOM PARKASH)

- (a) & (b): As per National Association of Software & Services Companies (NASSCOM), India's e-Commerce market continues to grow at Year on Year  rate  of  5  percent  with  estimated  revenue  of  USD56.6  billion  in FY2021 despite COVID-19 led challenges. The key factor contributing to the growth is increased rate of digital adoption and on-boarding.

As  per  Department  of  Economic  Affairs,  Fintech  eco-system  in  India  is very progressive and forward looking. India has emerged as the fastest growing  Fintech  market  and  the  third  largest  Fintech  ecosystem  in  the world  with  the  highest  Fintech  adoption  rate  of  87%  against  global average  of  64%  in  2019  and  continues  to  be  ranked  among  the  top Fintech.

The Government has put in place a liberal and transparent policy for FDI, wherein barring a select few sectors, FDI is permitted upto 100% in the automatic route in most sectors/activities, subject to applicable laws/regulations,  security  and  other  conditionalities.  The  Government reviews  the  FDI  policy  on  an  ongoing  basis  and  makes  significant changes  from  time  to  time,  to  ensure  that  India  remains  attractive  & investor friendly destination.

Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has undertaken a gamut  of initiatives to support technology led startup-innovation ecosystem in the country such as: Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0) scheme, MeitY Start-Up Hub (MSH), various Domain specific Centre of Excellences etc. Some of the prominent CoEs are Centre of Excellence (CoE) on FinTech at Chennai, Centre  of  Excellence  (CoE)  for  Internet  of  Things  at  STPI  Bangalore, ESDM Incubation Centre at Bhubaneswar by Software Technology Parks of  India  (STPI)  and  Centre  of  Excellence  (CoE)  on  Medi-Electronics  & Health  Informatics  at  Lucknow.  Further,  considering  the  potential  to revolutionize  India's  manufacturing  and  industrial  production  landscape, MeitY has drafted a 'NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING  2020'  to  promote  all  sub-sectors  within  the  AM sector,  including  machines,  materials,  software,  and  design,  which  will further accelerate the adoption of untapped potential business opportunities in the near future.

- (c): An  International  Financial  Services  Centre  (IFSC)  has  been  set  up  at GIFT  City  in  the  Special  Economic  Zone  with  the  strategy  to  onshore those international financial services that are currently consumed offshore by both residents and non-residents resulting in inflow of foreign capital. GIFT City aims to utilize local talent with state-of-the-art technological and regulatory framework to boost foreign investment.

GIFT  IFSC  provides  competitive  cost  of  operations  offering  direct  and indirect  tax  incentives,  ease  of  doing  business  and  globally  competitive regulations to attract offshore funds to India.

The  International  Financial  Services  Centres  Authority  (IFSCA)  being  a unified  financial  regulator  for  IFSCs  in  India  has  notified  the  regulatory framework to enable various financial activities from GIFT IFSC.

- (d): As of now, there is no such plan/proposal to create more such cities.
- (e) & (f): Government  of  India  in  consultation  with  State  Governments  and  other stakeholders  have  been  working  on  attracting  foreign  investment  on  a continuous basis. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow into India in F.Y

2020-21 was US$ 81,973 million and those investments are believed to have created newer opportunities for the youth. National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), a government anchored institution has played a key role in catalysing foreign investment from  long  term  pension  and  sovereign  wealth  funds  since  it  began operations in 2017. Large investors like ADIA, Australian Super, Ontario Teachers, CPP, PSP etc have invested in the relevant NIIF Fund.

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