Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said ecommerce firms are cooperating with the government after being sent questionnaires over complaints regarding alleged violation of FDI rules. He also spoke to Kirtika Suneja in Stockholm about issues such as India’s redlines in trade talks with the US, its position on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) treaty and plans to modernise Indian Railways. Goyal, who’s also the minister for railways, was in Stockholm to attend the Sweden-India Business Leaders Roundtable. Edited excerpts:The government has sent questionnaires to ecommerce firms and told them to comply with rules. Are they cooperating, and is there a time frame by when they have to reply?I’ve said before also on several occasions that while we welcome ecommerce companies to India we have explained to all of them the importance of running ecommerce as an agnostic marketplace where all suppliers get equal opportunity to offer their products and buyers have a choice to buy certain or any products on that marketplace. There are well-defined rules that they can’t have ownership or control over the inventory at any stage and can’t be selling their own products on that marketplace, and several other associated conditionalities were attached when we permitted ecommerce. We also have a clearly laid-out policy of not allowing multi-brand retail with foreign ownership more than 49%.Ecommerce companies are expected to respect these policies and the law of the land both in letter and spirit. Certain complaints were made to the ministry that some of the ecommerce companies were engaged in selling products at highly discounted prices, leading to concerns of predatory pricing. There were some complaints about circumvention of the ecommerce policy and our multi-brand retail laws, and in all fairness, it is the government’s duty to verify, validate all such complaints, which is why I believe ecommerce companies may have been asked certain questions and the department will assess the response. So far, I haven’t received any complaint of non-cooperation and I’ve had several interactions with ecommerce companies, and at different times they have assured me that they will work within the letter and spirit of the law, comply with India’s laws and policies fully and always be available for any clarification to satisfy the Indian authorities on the law of the land.By when do you expect issues around the US trade deal to get resolved?Trade deals are very complex issues. It’s not a switch off-switch on and something where we work on deadlines with a pistol to our head. We have to very carefully analyse and assess long-term impact of trade negotiations and trade transactions and deals, and neither side would like to rush it. We would like to ensure a fair deal which should be good for the people of both countries. Ambassador Robert Lighthizer and I are working through the numbers, doing a lot of number crunching and internal reconciliation with other line ministries so that what we finally decide is good for the people of India and is also good for the people of the US.What are our redlines or non-negotiables in the trade deal with the US?Redline issues are often there and no government compromises on any redline issue. For example, one redline issue that immediately comes to my mind is any product coming into India which has got animal feed into the food chain will be a redline if it is not properly marketed as a non-vegetarian product because of the religious sensitivities around it. Or let’s say opening up access to certain agricultural products where India is self-sufficient and we want to protect our farming community. There are always certain issues where one takes extra precautions and ensures that it doesn’t affect the Indian ecosystem, but usually in a trade deal, there are no complete no-nos. One can always work around and find sustainable solutions which can be acceptable to all parties. The job of good trade negotiators is to find solutions.What will be India’s position on RCEP, especially when there is opposition from industry?Whether to join RCEP or not, this decision will be taken going forward. In what form we join it is more important. And in the form on which discussions are happening and issues being negotiated, that is an example how trade negotiations can be beneficial for India’s people and industry. How we have carefully looked at every aspect, individual industry’s concerns, benefit from market access from every country and what our needs are that other countries can fulfil. We have thought about all these and with sufficient safeguards which will take care of India’s industry and not harm them, we are thinking over all these issues. I will assure Indian industry not to worry about it. Whatever happens will be for the good of the people and industry, boost ‘Make in India’ and create employment opportunities, benefit consumers, help create infrastructure at low cost and open new avenues for India’s strength in services sector. We will go forward looking at all these for comprehensive and holistic benefit to India.You have ruled out privatisation of railways.I have ruled out privatisation. It (Indian Railways) will continue to be a government entity. I do believe that we need large investment in the railways. The target is around Rs 50 lakh crore investment in the next 12 years in upgradation of infrastructure, new lines, new dedicated freight corridors, new high-speed and semi high-speed train lines and train sets. We want to improve passenger services, speed of trains; we want to further improve our safety record. In the current year, from April 1, there has been zero fatality in Indian Railways. The signalling system is going to be completely overhauled over the next five-seven years so that it adds to safety, it adds to capacity and ensures much more seamless movement of trains in a very efficient manner. All this will need a lot of capital and money and we are looking at publicprivate partnerships. We also believe that railways need not own the entire wagons, so that Coal India can have its own wagons for moving coal, NTPC can have its own wagons for moving coal and moving train rakes. Our idea is that in partnership with Indian Railways we should be able to invite investment so that people can get better service without compromising the character of Indian Railways, which will always remain government.The IRCTC IPO was a success. Was that only because of the attractive pricing?Railways is an engine of growth. Also, IRCTC has done some wonderful work in the last few years, particularly on passenger bookings and serving passengers in terms of improving the quality of catering, allowing independent companies to come and cater to passengers on the train, and the services it has been giving have helped it build databases and I think those databases have a lot of value. So they have ambitious plans to look at tourism in a big way, foray into newer areas in partnership or on their own in different fields, which I think the market recognised and gave a good value.(The correspondent was in Stockholm at the invitation of the Confederation of Indian Industry)