The battle for India’s Retail market is being fought not just in the halls of Parliament and on the front pages of newspapers but also on the little stretch of road near my home in Mumbai, where Colaba Causeway peters out into Navy Nagar. The outsize name board, “Patel General Stores”, had proudly announced itself for as long as I can remember. Recently, however, I noticed that the board had been...

-The Business Standard   The to-do over Retail FDI signals that the political class is anti-reform The political drama over the opening up of the Retail sector to foreign investment is significant, not on account of whatever might happen to the immediate issue, but for what it says about the prospects of any kind of economic reform. In and of itself, the opening up of the Retail sector is not hugely important, except...

In the backdrop of political uproar over government’s decision to allow FDI in Retail, N C Saxena, member of National Advisory Council (NAC), on Wednesday said there was no economic rationale against the decision and the opposition to it is guided by political whims. “Opposition to FDI in Retail is based on political whims which has no economic rationale,” he said. Saxena reasoned that FDI in Retail would only incentivise efficiency and...

-The Times of India Several Bharti-Walmart stores will remain closed on Thursday as a precautionary measure due to the bandh called by traders across the country, sources said. World's second largest Retailer Carrefour, which is present in the wholesale segment in the country, also beefed up security at its stores in Delhi and Jaipur. Private security guards patrolled the Carrefour store in the crowded Shahdra area in east Delhi and vigorously checked...

-The Indian Express   After a week of parliamentary gridlock over Retail reform, it appears as though both government and opposition are getting too used to this state of stalemate, the squandering of precious parliamentary time over one thing or the other. The constant adjournments, disruptions and boycotts over the last three sessions have, by now, seriously undermined Parliament — blocking important legislation, putting showy partisanship above the nation’s real needs. Is the...