-The Hindustan Times In response to the widespread protests and the nation-wide hartal last Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the nation on Friday and tried to explain why these decisions had become inevitable. The thrust of his argument was, “We need a revival in investor confidence, domestically and globally.” For this, the current high fiscal deficit must be contained and, hence, the hike in the prices of diesel and cap on...

-Outlook Allying fears that opening up of the retail sector for FDI will hurt small kirana shops, Plan Panel Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said modern retail is an expanding segment and it would more than double in a very short time. "I don't think FDI in retail is threat to small retailers. Modern retail is the expanding segment. Those who say that the small sector would be hurt, I think...

-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 Indian Express DIPP officials cite regulatory issues, problems in checking inter-state transactions in e-commerce activities The new rules that allow foreign retail chains to pick up to 51% stake in Indian supermarkets will not apply to e-commerce companies in the business-to-consumer (B2C) space. This means while the US-based retail firm Walmart can pick up a 51% stake in Bharti Retail, the JV firm cannot sell its products online through that entity....

-The Economic Times Foreign multi-brand retailers present in India through cash-and-carry route are expected to roll out consumer facing formats in the short to medium term, a research paper by consultancy firm KPMG said. The paper said most of the Foreign retailers will undertake changes in their cash-and-carry arrangement with their Indian partners. However, single brand retailers would significantly invest in India in the next 12-18 months due to 100% ownership which...