Working group to address trade concerns

December 02, 2011 06:57 pm | Updated July 29, 2016 10:41 am IST - NEW DELHI

Ruling out any rollback of the decision to allow 51 per cent foreign direct investment in multibrand retail, the Centre on Friday asked the agitating traders to submit their suggestions for safeguards within one week. A joint working group of traders and government officials will be formed to address trade concerns.

This was the outcome of a meeting between Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and representatives of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) here, where, however, there was no common ground. The joint working group is likely to be headed by P.K. Chaudhary, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

The government is also in the process of issuing the guidelines on the new FDI policy. “We are open to suggestions for safeguards that are being talked about. We are ready to address various concerns but there is no question of putting the policy on hold,” said a senior official.

Later, in a statement, CAIT secretary-general Praveen Khandelwal, who led the trade delegation, said the government had asked traders to submit their concerns in writing within a week. These issues would be looked into by the joint working group.

Traders have expressed a fear that with the entry of global retailers like Wal-mart and Carrefour there would be large-scale displacement of neighbourhood kirana shops.

Asked whether traders would end their protest, Mr. Khandelwal said the CAIT national governing council, meeting in Nagpur on December 12 and 13, would decide the issue.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.