-The Times of India   After debating the issue for over a decade, the government on Thursday threw open the multi-brand retail segment to foreign chains such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour and others in a move to attract overseas investment and dispel doubts about the coalition's ability to push through big-bang reforms.  After nearly two hours of discussion on Thursday evening, the Union Cabinet decided to allow foreign retailers to hold 51% stake in...

-The Hindu   The Bharatiya Janata Party is unambiguous in opposing the government move to throw open the retail sector to Foreign Direct Investment. The party believes that allowing foreign investment in multi-brand retail would adversely impact the retail sector, which is growing, and put the country's entire food chain system into the hands of foreign firms. At a news conference here, leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,...

-The Indian Express   The finance ministry has come to an agreement with the department of industrial policy and promotion about what the government’s policy towards foreign direct investment in retail should look like. This means the retail FDI proposal will be placed before the cabinet soon, and hopefully will be cleared as soon as possible. Currently, only 51 per cent foreign investment is permitted, and only in stores selling a single...

Indian suppliers must be units with investment up to Rs 1.25 cr, says draft before cabinet. Multinational retailers such as Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour looking to open stores in the country may have to source almost a third of their merchandise from small Indian manufacturers as the government tries to make the opening of multi-brand retail to foreign players more politically palatable. The draft cabinet note for permitting 51 per cent foreign...

-The Times of India   The BJP-led Opposition on Wednesday launched its attack on the UPA government over the issue of price rise in Lok Sabha. Opening the debate, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said that the BJP did not want the growth of economy if poor were dying of hunger. "Price rise is the worst kind of taxation on poor. The government should take immediate measures to check price rise" Sinha said. Continuing the...