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...
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FDI in retail: Row over FDI in retail escalates as state governments and UPA allies join opposition
-The Economic Times The row over opening up of the retail sector escalated on Monday with Congress' Kerala unit backing the rollback demand of 12 Opposition-controlled state governments and UPA allies DMK and Trinamool Congress. The fissures within the ruling alliance and the potential of the issue to bring disparate Opposition groups together saw Congress president Sonia Gandhi intervening to cut political losses for her party. Sonia, who held consultations with Prime...
More »FDI row: Desperate finance minister, helpless party by Sheela Bhatt
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee may be right in pushing for FDI in retail because reports have been pouring in, indicating that the economic downturn in India and abroad will worsen in coming weeks. 'I want money,' an agitated Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee reportedly told the Cabinet on Thursday, November 24, when coerced by colleagues from his Congress party for pushing 51 per cent Foreign Direct Investment in retail. The FDI issue is...
More »Muddling through retail reform by Ajay Dua
In opening up the retail trade to foreign equity last week, the Union government demonstrated uncharacteristic courage and conviction. While this policy measure might help dispel doubts about its ability to take decisions, it has raised a political dust-storm more intense and widespread than it had probably bargained for. No doubt, taking a view on the issue of liberalising FDI norms for multi-brand retail had been on the government’s agenda for...
More »It will adversely affect 1.5 crore small retailers, says AIDWA
-The Hindu The All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) has strongly opposed the decision of the Congress-led government to throw open the Indian retail market to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the tune of 51 per cent in the multi-brand retail sector. “This will have a very serious and adverse impact on around 1.5 crore small retailers in our country. The livelihood of more than 4 crore self-employed people is being placed at...
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