Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday reiterated that the central government will not allow foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, and also assured small traders that he would not allow predatory pricing by multinationals.
“Commerce and Industry Minister again reiterated that India will not allow multi-brand retail by foreign companies and on the pretext of B2B, no entry will be allowed for multi-brand retail,” the Commerce Ministry said in a release following a meeting between Mr. Goyal and representatives of kirana store owners and traders. “He also asserted that predatory pricing will not be allowed and necessary action will be taken against defaulters.”
Representatives of the associations of kirana stores had raised the issues of the need for a level playing-field and the adverse impact of anti-competitive practices such as predatory prices by foreign companies.
“Piyush Goyal urged small retailers, kirana stores to make use of modern technology and avail benefits of Government of India schemes like MUDRA to improve their business, spruce up their shops, improve stocks by storing high quality products and pass on the benefits to people employed by them,” the release added.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) submitted a memorandum to the Minister demanding that the same restrictions and conditions imposed on global e-commerce players be made applicable to domestic e-commerce companies also.
