The Retailers’ Association of India has welcomed the Telangana Government move to permit all shops and establishments in the State to remain open till 1:00AM as an ease of doing business (EoDB)-enabling measure. This move will create additional jobs, besides providing flexibility and convenience to customers.

The Govt of Telangana has confirmed that all establishments, except liquor shops, to remain open till 1AM. Furthermore, the Government has also confirmed that they will allow 24x7 delivery/take away operations for the restaurants.

Speaking about this development, Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI), said, “Extended hours of operation are a win-win situation for consumers, businesses and the government. This step allows the consumers the flexibility to shop at their convenience. It will also give a boost to tourism in the State and will help create jobs. This move will be very good, particularly for food and beverage industry. It will make the restaurants across the state more vibrant. A vibrant retail environment is critical to the economic growth. We hope the Govt will soon allow all establishments to remain open 24X7 throughout the year.”

Retailers Association of India (RAI) delegation had a series of meeting with the Telangana Government to implement the notification issued by the State Govt for 24X7 store opening last year. It was highlighted that while the 24X7 notification was effective, the local police authorities did not recognise the notification and ask the business to shut operations early.

Retailers Association of India (RAI) has been working with various state governments for enabling Ease of Doing Business and has been pursuing various departments to adopt the State Retail Trade Policy and allow retailers to operate 24X7, in line with the State Governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka & Tamil Nadu. Retail in India which is expected to touch $2 trillion by 2032, continues to be one of the country’s largest industries that makes up for over 10% of the GDP.