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SEZs to have duty-free shops

SPECIAL economic zones (SEZs) are getting another cap on their feather: Duty - free shopping. The government has agreed to allow duty-free outlets in SEZs and a dozen applications filed by Fiemin-go Duty free Shop Ltd which runs duty-free outlets across the country’s major international airports are under consideration now.

Since SEZs are still going through teething troubles, setting up duty-free outlets in these zones was a grey area till now and there was no clarity on allowing foreign investment in such out-lets. Therefore, the issue was discussed by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) recently and it has been decided that such outlets can be allowed with prior permission from the department of commerce.

It is understood that rules will be framed for such outlets by the department in consultation with revenue officials. To avoid confusion, the government would specify the categories of people who would be eligible for purchase from these outlets and the value ceiling on such transactions. SEZ units and SEZ developers are entitled to duty-free inputs but not all purchase of consumer goods might be covered by this concession.

Apart from SEZs, Flemingo had sought permission for opening duty-free outlets at Wagah border with Pakistan and the Paradeep port. The foreign investor had also suggested that an ‘omnibus’ clearance should be given instead of approving new outlets one by one.

After discussing the ‘omnibus’ clearance suggested by the foreign investor, FIPB decided that permission should be granted only with the approval of the nodal authorities — commerce & industry ministry in the case of SEZs, the civil aviation ministry in the case of airports and the ministry of shipping in the case of ports.

Retail war cry echoes globally

AS the noisy tug-of-war for retail talent gains momentum in India, it’s echoes are being heard abroad. A steep demand-supply gap is increasingly forcing new entrants in retailing to go on a global hunt. Local poaching is just not sufficient as they have discovered. Several head hunters confirm, they have international mandate to head hunt in the developed markets that offer the same complexity and scale as is being envisaged by the fresh retail ventures back home.

Reliance Retail, which mopped up the market to fill its top positions early this year, is now looking overseas to fill vacancies in the core areas in its retail venture. So is the AV Birla Group, which has roped in ex - Shoppers Stop honcho Vijay Kashyap to help it hand-pick key people. Ebony Retail Holdings, which is on an overdrive, too, is bringing key executives from global retail chains who have worked in large, complex and more mature markets such as China and Japan. Seeing all this, it doesn’t surprise many when sources say, Bharti has brought in a Tesco honcho, an expat, as CEO for its retail venture.

Much of the head hunting overseas is meant to bring in professionals especially in operations and merchandising. “There is no option but to scour global markets for talent in the retail sector considering the modem retail has a short history,” says B S Nagesh, CEO, Shoppers Stop. Yet he feels that people, who come on board, will have to go through a complicated learning curve.

The crunch is so acute that even abroad, companies are looking at professionals who have retired from global retail chains. And this is going to stay for some time, say analysts. “There’s a huge market for what they call interim executives in the US, which include people who may have retired and would be happy doing trouble shooting or work on a project basis.

This is being seen as a potential talent pool now,” says Atul Vohra, managing partner, Transearch, which has just helped a client get a key executive for a hyper market venture in India. Adds Arun Das Mahapatra, managing partner, Heidrick & Struggles: “We are focusing on talent mapping of Indians abroad with the objective of repatriating them for specialised sectors that lack competency in India.” Meanwhile, locally, the retail brigade is hunting for talent from outside of retail as there’s little to poach from within, says K Sudarshan, managing partner, EMA Partners. “For now, any hiring exercise for retail ventures is looking at sectors beyond retail such as those which are mass market and operations led, but many have started going overseas for talent hunt.”

Tug-of-war
The retail war for staff has entered global turf. Several head hunters confirm they have international mandate to head hunt in the developed markets that offer the same complexity and scale as is being envisaged by the fresh retail ventures back home.

Source : ET