Detailed discussions underway to finalise e-commerce policy: Centre

New Delhi:  The government on March 19 said detailed discussions are being held to finalise a national e-commerce policy, a move aimed at promoting the growth of the sector.

In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said a draft e-commerce policy was placed in public domain on February 23, 2019, for public consultations.

“Valuable suggestions have been received from many stakeholders. Detailed deliberations are being held to finalise the e-commerce policy,” he said.

In a separate reply, he said since the launch of Startup India initiative, a total of 44,766 startups have been recognized by the DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) as on March 14. He also said as many as 350 startups have been granted income tax exemptions till February 2021.

“SIDBI has committed Rs 4,326.95 crore to 60 SEBI registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). These funds have raised a corpus fund of Rs 31,598 crore. Rs 1,270.46 crore have been drawn from the SIDBI Fund of Funds. Rs 4,509.16 crore have been invested into 384 startups as on 1st December 2020,” he added.

In a separate reply, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Hardeep Singh Puri said the country’s edible oil imports during April-January this fiscal grew by 12.61% to $9.12 billion. The imports stood at $8.1 billion during April-January 2019-20, according to the data provided by Puri, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Replying to another question on China, he said the government has blocked about 293 mobile applications under the provisions of section 69A of Information Technology Act 2000 in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state and defence of India.