India has approved long-awaited proposals to open up the retail market to global supermarket chains. Food Minister KV Thomas said the cabinet has agreed to 51% foreign ownership of multi-brand retail stores, allowing groups like Wal-Mart and Tesco to open stores. Such operators currently can only sell wholesale in India and not directly to customers. A decision on the issue has been pending for two years. Mr Thomas told reporters that the cabinet decided...
More »SEARCH RESULT
FDI in retail: Farmers gain, but SMEs & kiranas complain by Sutanuka Ghosal & Madhvi Sally
-The Economic Times With the entry of foreign supermarket players, farmers across India's six lakh villages stand to gain from greater market access, higher profits, better technology and direct linkage with consumers. "Direct purchase from farms has hugely benefited small farmers like us who were not getting good returns by selling in the local mandi," said Abdul Majid, from Malerkotla in Punjab, who has been selling vegetables from his one-acre farm to...
More »India to be ranked 3rd largest Internet market after China and the US by Harsimran Julka
By the end of this year, one in every 10 Indians will be an Internet user, making the country the third-largest Internet market in the world after Chinaand the United States. At the end of December, 121 million Indians will be accessing the Internet at least once a week to check emails, chat or log on to a social network, a survey has found. India is adding Internet users at the...
More »Tobacco companies continue to violate ban on plastic pouches by Bindu Shajan Perappadan
Government agencies not taking action against defaulters: study More than five months after the ban on use of plastic pouches for sale of tobacco products came into effect on March 1 this year, small and big manufacturers of pan masala and chewing tobacco are still violating the rule openly, a recent survey by Voluntary Health Association of India and eight other partners has found. The study conducted in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar,...
More »Slavery or Sumangali? Exploitation of Dalit Girls Exposed
Women’s stepping out of their homes to work is often seen as a symbol of empowerment. But what if girls and young women are first lured to work in factories on the false promise of decent wage, comfortable accommodation and payment of a lump sum amount at the end of 3 years contract, and then made to toil for pittance and their labour rights are violated? A report titled: Captured...
More »