New Delhi, May 14: A stakeholders' meeting on FDI in e-commerce failed to generate much of a consensus, with some even questioning the rationale behind distinguishing retailers on the basis of channels such as brick-and-mortar shops and online stores.

"It was the first meeting. We are not taking any position. We have heard everybody. In fact, this is not going to be sufficient," commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters here.

She said the meeting was aimed at understanding the broader context of e-commerce and "the way in which they need FDI, they may not need FDI, is it affecting the level-playing field of the brick-and-mortar stores. I need more meetings with everyone, individual operators and association".

She will also hold meetings with some state governments, particularly on taxation and definition of e-commerce. Sitharaman said the stakeholders had raised issues related to taxation and inclusion of e-commerce within the framework of the domestic trade policy.

At present, 100 per cent FDI is allowed only in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce but not in companies that sell directly to consumers.

Amazon, eBay, Flipkart and Snapdeal operate as online marketplaces. They do not own any inventory or sell their own merchandise but offer products from third parties to consumers.

In multi-brand retail, the Narendra Modi-government has retained the previous Congress regime's decision of 51 per cent FDI in the sector.

"I have not taken a new stand other than what my party had won its election on," Sitharaman said.

Today's meeting was attended by representatives of industry associations CII, Ficci and Nasscom and companies such as eBay, Snapdeal, Flipkart and Ikea.

The Retailers' Association of India - the lobby group representing Future Group, Reliance Industries' retail unit and other offline retailers - boycotted the meeting. It said the retail business should be classified on the basis of the category of goods and services offered and not on the basis of offline and online channels.

Global players in online retail such as Amazon and eBay want the government to relax the foreign investment norms in e-commerce.

A spokesperson for eBay said they had always "supported free and open markets everywhere as this enables greater choice and value to the consumer. However, we strongly believe in the need for a carefully calibrated approach to opening up of FDI in e-commerce This should not be treated as an extension of the current FDI policy in multi-brand retail in India, but should emerge out of a carefully crafted, premeditated approach that helps Indian MSMEs better adapt to deal with global competitors with deeper inventories and stronger financial muscle".

Sources said one of the biggest Indian etailers and some associations representing smaller retailers were opposed to FDI.

Snapdeal, which did not clarify whether it favoured FDI in the sector, said, "The government must tread this issue with caution to ensure that there is no adverse impact on the growth of MSMEs in the country as a result of any policy change in the long term."

Praveen Khandelwal, secretary-general of the Confederation of All India Traders, said, "Allowing FDI in e-commerce will run counter to the vision of Modi's Make in India campaign."

The CII said it was "favourably inclined" towards 100 per cent FDI in B2C e-commerce but the "sector should be given some time to come to a level where it can compete globally as the FDI will bring tens of thousands of products from all over the globe and will be sold on e-commerce platforms, thereby negating the fundamental principles of Make in India.".