-The Economic Times With the coming of 'organised' multi-brand retail - whether through FDI or indigenous - can the kirana store owner create an effective response so that he competes successfully to retain his share of the consumer's growing shopping basket? And second, will he want to make the change? To answer the first question, let's recap what we know are the kirana's strengths. Successful Kirana stores have great neighbourhood locations and...

-The Times of India With the UPA government's efforts to build a consensus on allowing foreign retailers in the multi-brand retail sector going nowhere, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday urged the UPA allies to help evolve a consensus on the reforms measure. Participating in the first meeting of the newly set-up UPA co-ordination committee, PM said that it was necessary to build support for the move to let in foreign retailers. The...

-The Indian Express Push on FDI in multibrand retail could be the trigger for UPA 2’s image makeover For a government with its back to the wall and pretty much nowhere to go, it’s time to simply get on with it. Now that the Parliament’s budget session is over, the presidential candidate has been announced and the next round of state elections is still some way off, the government is beginning to...

Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar, India’s biggest rural retail chain by sales, which operates 230 stores across eight states and had seen good growth in the past two years, said it had seen a fall in rural demand in the past two to three months. A drop in prices of potatoes, onions and some other vegetables, leading to low realisation for farmers, and an increase in cost of fertiliser, are reasons for these...

-The Times of India   HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh and Member of Parliament Ashok Ganguly have appealed to Corporate India to come out strongly in support of a besieged government, which is overwhelmed by opposition to its proposal to open up foreign investment in retail.   The two senior business leaders are part of a group of 14 eminent citizens who came together to raise the issue of policy paralysis and later on the...