Nod for 100% FDI in single brand retail
In a bid to remove the impression that UPA II was suffering from “decision making paralysis” and kicking off the second generation reforms, the Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its approval to allowing 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and 100 per cent FDI in single brand retail.
The decision is likely to clear the decks for the entry of foreign retail giants such as Teso, WalMart and Carrefour who have been waiting in the wings for long to get a taste of the $450 billion worth of retail Indian market. The announcement invoked strong criticism from Opposition parties, including the BJP and the Left, but was welcomed wholeheartedly by corporate India. The opposition from one of the UPA allies, Trinamool Congress, to the proposals did not deter the government from taking the decision.
Emerging from the prolonged Cabinet meeting, Food Minister K.V. Thomas said the Cabinet cleared 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail and also hiked from 51 per cent to 100 per cent FDI in single-brand retail. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma will make a formal statement in Parliament on Friday. The Cabinet has almost endorsed most of the recommendations made by the Committee of Secretaries (CoS).
The proposal for 51 per cent FDI in retail has come with certain riders, including approval to be taken from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), a minimum investment of $100 million by the foreign investor, 50 per cent of the total FDI to be invested in “back-end infrastructure” and 30 per cent of the products to be procured from small scale industries. It also states that fresh agricultural produce, including fruits, vegetables, flowers, grains, pulses, fresh poultry, fishery and meat products, may be unbranded.
For the purpose of FDI in multi-brand retail, the note describes small industries as units which have a total plant and machinery investment not exceeding $250,000 (around Rs.1.25 crore). This investment refers to the value at the time of installation, without providing for depreciation. The foreign retail chains will be required to comply with self-certification. They have to keep all records and the government will have the first right to procure agricultural produce.
As for the back end investment, the Cabinet note clearly states that investment made towards processing, manufacturing, distribution, design improvement, quality control, cold chain, warehouses and packaging, amongst others, will constitute back end. The retail chains will be allowed only in cities with a population of more than 10 lakh as per the 2011 census. There are 51 cities with a population of more than one million, based on the 2011 census.
Some of the key conditions for allowing 100 per cent FDI in single-brand retail include products sold under the same brand name internationally; product retailing will cover only those products that are branded during manufacturing and the foreign investor should be the owner of the brand.
Keywords: retail, FDI, foreign investment, cabinet meet, Anand Sharma
I totally agree with Raghu. As a journalist living and working in the US, I have seen and read about the campaigns that local people there have organized to keep Walmart out of their neighborhoods. If Walmart was so good, why would they do that?
Also, a lot of people in their comments have talked about quality. Well, Walmart products have no better quality because in order to give you the cheapest product, the quality will be compromised.
And Raghu is right about routing out local small retailers because a mammoth company like Walmart can give you a Watermelon for 50 paise till it makes sure that all local shops die and then will sell the same Watermelon for 10 rupees. Being an international retail chain it can suffer that loss for a long long time.
A margin of profit that use to run croers of families of kirana shops
will be effected.Initially the pricing of big retailers will be low
later once public is habituated it will run an errosin of public money.I
dont think kirana shops goods are bad. They even support the basic
econmy structure its nationational safety issue not to be dependant on
foreign retailers for food .
This is a nice move by the government. This will defintely create job market. More over it is people method of buying if they want buy in small outlets they can by so. if they want to buy in big retail markets they can do so. There will be also quality in products. look at the developing countries like mexico and china. China especially they have small retail outlets and also big ones too. Their economy is also good. Every thing as both side positive and negative. I feel there will be positive effect through direct foregin investment.
This is very good move from government. Atleast their will be some way for the end users . Atlaest some one gonna care about customer complaints .. now a days outlets in India are ripping off .. this very intellegent and cool move
It is one thing for the concerned citizens to raise their voices. What about the consumers ? If the consumers boycott the stores opened under FDI those stores will have to pack up and leave. The problem is an average consumer has no longer any gratitude or loyalty.They may have been served with dedication by " mom and pop " stores and yet they will go to big stores to save money at the cost of those had served them in the past. And in the middle of the night if their babies cry the same consumers unabashedly will knock at the doors of the mom and pop stores for milk. Vladimir Lenin rightly said, " The capitalist will sell you a rope for a dollar with which you can hang him ". The consumers' bones will never heal, for their marrows are filled not with red blood cells but with deep ingratitude. Retribution and skeleton in the closet have an uncanny way of making their presence known when least expected. Consumers are no exception to the rule and shall soon face the retribution.
I think that there is a misconception that allowing FDI in retail will lead to Walmart gaining a monopoly. America and India are drastically different. In contrast to America, several major retailers will compete in India preventing either one of them from being able to single-handedly dominate the market. Secondly, while it is understandable to be sentimental about mom and pop stores, that is not enough justification for providing them undue protection. Protection is precisely what resulted in our economy growing at rates termed perjoratively as the hindu rate of growth. Free markets and lots of competition is clearly the best path as it forces producers to innovate and compete. The entry of FDI in retail will do just that. Mom and pop stores might come up with ideas to make themselves valuable, example delivering your groceries to your house. Please read up on some basic economics! Protectionism ALWAYS leads to worse outcomes!
The result of all these years of economical reform not revealing a good picture either in india or the other countries of world.instead it is brought chavoc in defferent corner of world.why becouse all the wealth is moving toward few peoples hand,and they are controlling,storaging,distributing,and price fixing for the national wealth.they are in business for there own and looting maximum profit from it-result is poverty growing very fast-there is lot of bill should be passed in this winter session in front of the national interest,in front of that how like this an international concerned matter passed in parlement very easeley when we are in a democratic system and there is lot of political parties involved in it,that i cant understand-
This is a welcome move by the Government of India. The so called "small outlets" sells goods at an inflated prices. For eg., in the neighborhood, the small fruit seller sells Watermelon at rs.20/- per kg whereas in the food bazar the same is available at rs.9/- per kg. Why should someone trust the "small outlets" and over pay for the same product. Also, the quality is much better in these retail outlets. This move will only make the prices consistent in the market and increase competition which is beneficial to the consumer.
FDI in India is going to create 10 million slaves(jobs). People who preach that competetion is going to drive the prices down and improve quality are wrong. This is only the honey on the sword. They are here to kill and own. I live in Australia and the service you get in a big store is close to zero. They have self seviced chekouts. If you want to experience the most impersonal service these big brand outlets are the place to be. India has a rich diversity of small operators and please keep that. I do see that current small businesses may not be offering the best but there has to be better ways than FDI to get the job done.Please dont let FDI in India and destroy the fabric of diversity that is so uniquely ours. Politicians please dont divorce your wife for a monster.
I welcome FDI in retail. It will improve tax collection, it will improve quality, prices wil come
down. It is vested interests that are opposing FDI in retail. Mom and pop stores will go out of
business but that is part of economic evolution. What about mechanization of agriculture
which puts lot of laborers out of business?
So FDI in retail is inevitable, in my view.
This is bold move by the Govt. but in no way it is as bad as its being
portrayed. Look at the positives Walmart and others are coming here for
profit and thus they will not only curtail cost they will improvise the
whole supply chain. They will invest in storage and transport. Thats how
they make profit by improvisation. Just look around for amount of food
rotting in govt storage today, why is it so? As economics teaches that
the competitive markets are the most efficient once.
People who support this move are either naive or have a vested interest for this outrageous proposal. If you dont agree with me, please read the rest of this post. Yes, this move gives great choice for the consumers. Yes, this move creates a lot of retail minimum wage jobs (that pay next to nothing). But it will affect most of the Mom and Pop stores. I have had the chance to observe the ill effect of opening a Walmart in a small community in the US. Almost immediately a lot of small business got shut down. Those strip malls are almost like a ghost town. You might argue for the rights of the consumers, but small business owners are also a major part of our economy. It has been well documented that Walmart underpays and overworks its employees. They have a lot of funds and are will gladly loose money for several years to kill of any competition. This move would certainly drive land prices through the roof and make rent unaffordable. In the end small businesses will die. This is madness.
Walmart created a world class supply chain to keep prices low. It is china's biggest trading partner(has 400 billion$ revenue with 80-90% Chinese imports). Its coming to India has +ves and -ves. India's trade deficit with china will grow, Kirana stores will definitely be affected but will still survive because of their mix of goods.The challenge is to create the supply chain in India with our roads, power and connectivity. It will boost the Indian economy with new infrastructure. It can stabilize prices, if locally sourced, will help farmers and provide them with a constant income security. Consumers will get more options at cheap prices.
One important thing to note here is that Indian consumer shops more smartly than a western one, so Walmart might not be able to sell similar junk here. For people who oppose, the question to ask is, can any Indian company bring the expertise of Walmart to India today and if they do can they do business without relying on cheap Chinese imports?
Prices will come down (unfortunately our mom and pop stores come with huge markups) and will be fairly stable. Middle men will be cut out. Food wastage will reduce from today's ridiculously high levels. And yes, those whose profession is to buy and sell with huge mark ups will be in jeopardy. I heard similar arguments 20 years ago when railways took up the project to computerize ticketing (jobs will be lost, etc). I don't see anyone complaining about long lines, messy beauracracy etc. It is all good.
As usual there are opinions for and against the decision of the Govt. allowing 51% FDI in retail marketing. The cardinal question to be debated is the issue of foreign investment. The economy in imperialist countries are in the crisis. It is an admitted facts. They are on the point to get over from the crisis by plundering the wealth of the countries like India. Our politicians and the Govt. are the loyal agents to aid and help the plunder. The opposition parties are raising their protest. If they are sincere they should be on agitation in an uncompromising manner to do away with the liberalization policies pursued by the Manmohan Sing Govt. Thy are also the implementers of such policies.
The retailers Association have taken a decision to launch agitation. It is a good move.The general public will have to support this agitation. They must carry forward the agitation.The people should be vigil so that new 'East India Company' may not plunder our wealth in the new form.
Digvijay Singh’s claim that it will not affect the neighborhood store is a lie which he is paid to proclaim. In several US cities Wallmart lost its bid just on this ground. It is difficult for me to understand as to why India needs intrusion by foreign markets into domestic marketing, and infrastructure projects, when India has all the knowledge and material resources to undertake it by self. It is only a marriage of convenience between local and foreign capitalists for mutual benefit at the expense of national treasure. People like Mr Singh, and Mr. Chidambaram are educated at Cambridge and Harvard to promote this at the cost of National rivalries and conflicts. All future wars will not be for oil or water but for markets.
I strongly support the decision of the UPA government to allow FDI in retail. Finally, the congress seems to be getting out of its policy paralysis. Reforms like these are essential to ensure that our food supply chains are improved. Foreign retailers have the money required to invest in building cold-storage facilities. The end result will be higher incomes for farmers and lower prices for consumers in cities. I find it sad that on one hand the BJP (a traditionaly supporter of free markets and capitalism) rails against inflation on one hand and then criticizes the Congress for taking steps essential to alleviating the problem of high inflation.
This move will only benefit the corporate giants like Walmart. Will destroy the livelihoods of small business . The media has a responsibility to let the Indian people know what Walmart has done to the US small business .
And how many livelihoods will it destroy? Please publish that number also and then proceed to create so-called 10 million jobs which will mostly be low-paid and exploiting sort of jobs. The Govt in hands with the corporates always spreads misinformation creating ignorance and then exploits that very ignorance.
Noticed some interesting comments. Dear Mr. Jitendra Dutta, all your points are theoretical & superficial. Decision may look fantastic from 20000 feet. But has potential to destroy the fundamentals of Indian society.
Do you think working in Supermarket counters and arranging the shelves for a minimum wage are the jobs that the Indian youth deserve? Open your eyes, development lies in education, encouraging indigenous entrepreneurs and high skilled manufacturing.
We have enough proof in the west how the culture of low wage and menial jobs destroy the back bone of the country. Having the entire country employed for a minimum wage is not the way for prosperity. India deserves more than this. Why are all the NGOs and think tanks are silent now? Have they been reimbursed enough by these multi-brands?
This is not good for the country, this should be debated & people should approve this, not by bunch of people at the top. Manmohan should seek another mandate before he can implement this.
Such a path breaking move, does it not require assent by parliament,
strange a minority congress cabinet can simply allow foreign hands to
take over the livelihood of shopkeepers. May be someone could approach
Supreme Court under Funda Rights to profession/business and rein in the
cabinet decision
This is as worse as it can get for poor & worst "Economic Liberalization" move by Government. They is playing into the hands of lobbyist and vested interest.
People who advocate FDI in retail should travel abroad to see how these multi-brand retail outlets affects the lives of people who produce. They form cartels, they rig prices, they create artificial hype. These companies are full of greed and have no mercy. They are not here to do service but make profit at the cost of millions of families.
Everything will look clean, glossy and in one place. But what we can't see is the suffering of the man/woman who sits behind those produce. Instead the Central Government should emulate TN model of Uzhavar Sandhais and reward the indigenous producer, it supports families. Multi-Brands outlets will kill those families, take the money out of country, making rich get richer while leaving million fighting for survival.
Multi-Brand Outlets are EVIL & A GREEN EYED MONSTER. WORST DECISION OF UPA-II
Truly a commendable move. The opinions voiced above would have made
perfect sense to me if they were made some 10yrs ago! Mainly for two
reasons. One, our overly huge concern for local producers & "poor"
farmers has rendered certain sectors incompetent & lethargic. The
agriculture sector for instance still thrives on age old beliefs &
practices. Add to that the sops given by the govt. in the form of loan
waivers, subsidy etc. How much longer do we expect this to continue?
This move should surely wake these sectors up from their slumber.
Secondly, as a consumer, I would prefer variety of brands to choose
from, which suits my wallet & my needs. And FDI in retail offers
precisely that.
Other benefits include lesser hoarding of goods and blackmarketing by
traders in commodities, easing of inflation, huge economic benefits in
the form of taxes that organised retailers would be liable to pay.
I think this is very good decision (probably one of the few steps) taken up by this corrupt UPA-2 government. Only the competent will survive in a free economy. One has to innovate and continuously upgrade to survive. The middleman is looting the poor farmer and the buyers for ages. This has to go. Govt. has a need to ensure a healthy competition instead of a monopoly.
Most of the commentators in this post (barring some) are just offering lip service. Crying wolf un-necessarily. I am sure out of the 20 + comments we have here only 1 or 2 would be from a rural area. I agree with Jitendra Dutta, this move has to be welcomed. First can any of you think if there was any other way to combat inflation? would you go buy a 3 acre land, grow vegetables, put in a supply chain management and start gloating that you are aiding in suppressing inflation? i dont think so. The rules clearly state there are riders, i am not supporting UPA or the CoS here, there maybe hundred political reasons for them to take a call on this, but we as normal people should see the other side, for they who are right now sitting in the position to decide seemed fit to do it which is the only logical conclusion. None of us have the required guts to take on problems such as farmer suicides, all we can do is cry pointing to the sky. Look, if you want India to shine, you better shine.
It is a welcome step. this move will create competitive environment in the country hence quality improvement and control methods will govern the retail and manufacturing sector.
India will very soon become a state where only the rich can live.....Remember what the US did to us , levied fine,taxes,reduced the HIB Visas.....Why are you allowing to invest....Already hundreds of farmers are committing suicide i am sure the numbers will go up.Weak PM, Corrupt HM , time for a change...
This is indeed a most tragic decision by the ruling government. The ills of allowing Walmart and the like into cities is a well documented issue. but then this is merely the tip of the iceberg. Slowly but surely the governments all over the world have sold themselves to the corporate class. We have seen in the last few years the greatest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the US...Can India be far behind...Thanks to our colonial mindset, the west is still the best for us... we cannot and will not learn from our mistakes of the
past...we cannot and will not learn to innovate from our own
experiences... this is the tragedy...
This should have been done long time back. Better late than never. I don't understand why every move is being criticised in India. Now they start complaining it will kill small shops. just wait and watch., the end result will be quality goods at economical price., the small business will not vanish but they will be forced to sell quality products.This move is a boon to the consumer. Don't expect the Giant's to open in every single street., it will be at the most 2 or 3 in a whole city. you still need the next door Jaya stores for day to day purchases.
I remember the figure for the Indian retail market dished out about five years ago when this debate started was also around $400 b. So haven't the market grown or what? Or has it stagnated at that no. ?
Bad day agreed, but we the people can still spike their plans if we stick to our Kamakshi Stores and Gupta Provisions...We can say no to the Walmarts - just boycott them. After all, the MNCs come for our numbers. If we can stay away in numbers and shop as we always did at our neighbourhood shops, it's just a matter of time before they pack up. It's our choice, folks - Gandhiji showed us the way long ago - do we still have the spine to follow? Say no and shop/consume ethically.
It is a known fact that Walmart arm-twists its way to bring the so-called "cheapest" stuff to its consumers. It is also a well-documented fact in the US that its products are not the best and durable. Its labor and working conditions for its own employees are also questionable. However, the most important question for the Indian government is how much has it looked into the matter of small retailers surviving against these cash-rich behemoths. I am, at the same time, surprised at the lack of all-rounded articles and news stories in the Indian media about the possible negative impact that this move can have on the Indian economy and society. Getting inputs from corporate India is good, but what about the small retailers who will be most impacted.
Ridiculous by GOI, How could they allow FDI in retail, already companies like Reliance Fresh,Hertiage,Spencers and so on are affecting Small medium scale industries. I just dont agree with this idea. But i am sure there might have been some bribes given to GOI by Walmart....
Enron repeats? When ENRON proposed power plant all of us thought that they will bring their own money and start the plant. After many years we came to know that their investment was miniscule and the major source of funds came from LIC and nationalised banks. In retail FDI, the minimum investment needed is $100 million. If the store requires say $1,000 million, the FDI will remain at $100 million and $900 million will be from LIC, et.al. If it fails, bigger loss will be borne by India and not the FDI investor who would have moved his share of profit in the very initial years itself. Thus, FDI appears to a misnomer. Our problem is that we have faith in foreign managers and in US based on past experience. However, many of our own industries like Tatas have done quite well. We may bring foreign managers, but the entire property should be ours as majority funding will come from LIC and nationalised banks. Otherwise, the law should stipulate 90% investment should be FDI.
This is not good for our country. This will increase the prices and also create monopoly for players like Walmart.
The decision to allow 51% foreign investment in multibrand retail bisiness in India, is a most tragic,unpatriotic decision,ss it iz the first step in surrendering our hard fought freedom,and is a fatal repetition of the Vijyanagar empire's granting a trading post to the British East India company. One can be certain that tens of thousands of corner/ medium sized and small size merchants all oer India will be tempted to commit suicide. This is monstrous perversion of democracy,and the President of India would do well in vetoing this irredeemably irresponsible decision. POLITICAL SLAVERY FOR ABOUT 200 YEARS to a small island nation like Britain, seems to have altered our national genes,and the soul of Bharatha Matha is writhing with anguish over this. The martyrs of our freedom movement must be turning over in their graves over this national disaster. The Government should not cave in to the inexperienced administrators of bookish economic theories.
Yes, it is the first move to over come the "decision paralysis". Hope it is not the last.The opposition from the BJP and others is mere tokenism. Welcome Multi-brand Retail!!!
A retrograde step; a united opposition should ensure its quick burial. It is a delusion to usher it as a boon for either farmers or consumers. A research reveals:” For every 1 pound, retail price for bananas the worker gets just 1.5 pence, the plantation owner 10 pence, the trading company 31 pence, the ripener/distributor 17 pence and the supermarket chain 40 pence!” It will only increase growers’ suicides. Instead of more, local employment will dwindle. Mall story is far from triumphal, its future is murky. No wonder it is being thrust on us by our globalization gurus. A study says: ..”just as the onward march of malls began to seem unstoppable, though, things began to go wrong. In just a few years they turned from temples of consumption to receptacles for social problems”. It enslaves suppliers, humiliates small shops to be tied to them. UPA is gifting us Carrefours and Walmarts –21 century equivalent of East India Company traders.
This is a good move by the Government. Whilst there are many benefits, the main beneficiary would be the end customers who can look forward to getting quality products at a reasonable price. Even the farmers are bound to gain as they can get a better price for their produce since there will be no middle men.
This is a welcome move and long overdue. At last the middle class citizen can look forward to buying products that have some consistency in quality and packaging. But our warped thinking shows in the decision to allow retail chains only in cities with a population of 10 lakh and above. This means chains will be forced to put up shop only in metros and large towns where the cost of real estate is already astronomical. It is exactly the opposite of what happens in the west where these large outlets are encouraged to locate in the suburbs. It is very clear the government has not paid the slightest attention to the enormous impact of this decision on real estate prices in large towns.
This is a good decision by the Govt. to allow foreign retail giants to bring business to India. People who oppose this should look at the other developing countries like China and Mexico with their huge population enjoying the benefits not only in economic growth also bringing goods to the people at the affordable prices. The employment opportunities would be remarkable. Please just wait and see once the initial hickups are cleared!
If Indian owned Malls in retail business are acceptable one can't understand objections to the foreign owned ones. How does the ownership percentage like, 24, 26, 49, 51, 74, 76 or 100 often applied to various types of businesses make a difference to the situation on ground? If the big malls take away the business of the small trade, then the restriction should be on the area of the mall and not on ownership percentage. Rules like 30 percent to be bought from the small sector are meant to give protection to the Indian malls which do not have such restriction attached. And how that is going to be monitored? That would lead to more bureaucracy and corruption.
One more and last post-script on this topic. I read that multibrand retail would not include vegetable, fruits, grain etc. If this is the case it may negate a lot of the benefits of modern supply-chain processes that the foreign companies would introduce by reducing firm produce wastage and allowing better pay for the farmers since multibrand stores won't be able to sell firm produce. It is like two step forward and one step back. Anyways, it looks like India needs a crisis to introduce the necessary economic reforms, this time it is slowing GDP growth, high inflation and depreciating rupees. wonder what crisis would it take to liberalize archaic labor laws of the country that impedes setting up of mass manufacturing and growth for Indian industries (lot of the small or medium size companies don't hire workers due to the stringent labor laws related to size of the workforce) that would create jobs in rising young population in the country, as an example just look at China.
Finally, the Indian government wakes up from its coma.
As a post-script to my previous comment, I do understand the concerns about danger to the livelihood of neighborhood kirana stores due to competition from multi-brand retail. However I think such concerns are overblown. There won't be multi-brand retail stores in every neighborhood like the Kirana stores. For my day to day grocery needs I would still go to the neighborhood Kirana stores, it is only for the bulk buying needs I may bear the hassle of visiting the multi-brand retail if they offer competitive prices. India's retail spending pie is increasing as the middle-class grows in size, so there will be room for both Kirana stores and the Wal-Mart or Tesco. Besides by creating jobs in retail and supply-chain processes as well as allowing farmers better pricing for their produce it would create more consumers who would in turn patronize both neighborhood Kirana (villages won't have any Wal-Marts) stores and the Wal-Marts or Tescos. It is not a zero sum game.
All are talking about Sharad Pawar but this deal will take shopkeepers to sucide - anybody noticed?
Finally Manmohan Singh govt is embarking on the second wave of economic liberalization faced with rising food price inflation and depreciating rupees. It is about time. However the actual implementation is still far away as I am sure busybody opposition would raise all sorts of objections without paying heed to the merits of this move. I believe multi-brand retail would help reduce firm produce wastage and allow better pricing for the farmers by removing the middlemen, both of which help alleviate inflation to some extent. International companies such as Wal-Mart and Tesco would introduce modern supply chain processes that would cut down wastage and help setting up of cold storage sorely needed in a tropical country like India to help cut down wastage. It would also create new jobs in retail and supply chain processes without requiring high education levels as in the IT industry, another urgent need for India to create jobs for the rising number of youth in the country.
I think this decision of allowing FDI in multi brand retail may go down the history of indian economy as BLACK DAY. The way this whole process of allowing FDI was undemocratic. People's comments on DIPP paper has not been respected. All party joint parliamentary committee report is not discussed. Few cabinet secretaries decieded the fate of whole country endorsed by cabinet. If this is to be done than why we require elected representative. It is better in such situation to amend the constitution and give all powers to secretaries. If this is done than we may have satisfaction that such action are atleast constitutional. This is the opinion of most of the citizens.
This is really a bad move on the part of the government. It will cost millions of people who depend on the local, "mom and pop" stores, so ubiquitous in India, much pain and hardship. The government has been unable to control inflation in India, and needless to say, it is damaging the government's credibility as it affects roti, kapda and makan. It is this treat - from uncontrollable inflation on the part of the government - that has moved the government to allow FDI in retail. They think (and Walmart types argue) that more FDI in retail will lower prices.
It is the incompetence of the government (in fiscal terms that have allowed inflation to spiral) that has led to this situation. How sad. Wouldn't it make more sense to control inflation through other fiscal means? Leaving it to the Tescos, Walmarts and Carrefours does not make sense. We have an incompetent government and an equally incompetent bureaucracy (which approved this) India. Get ready for more disastrous moves....
This is a huge mistake, and will help no one but the promoters of these businesses. In the US, small retailers have all but been wiped out by Walmart, one of the largest retailers. Family concerns have folded along with the jobs provided by them. Many owners of small groceries have been put out of business and been forced to become employees at Walmart. Most Walmart products, except for groceries are now manufactured in China.
Is this what we want in India? True, large firms such as Walmart bring economies of scale to the retailing business. But their benefits are overblown. Many ship produce hundreds of miles, wasting precious energy, even though locally grown produce is available. India's politicians are slowly but surely opening the gates to a modern day repeat of the "East India Company" and all the ills that came along with it, including loss of the nation's independence. Again, the only beneficiaries are the dealmakers involved. As a whole, India and its people are the losers!
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