Karan Thapar: Hello and welcome to Devils Advocate. How do businessmen respond to the claim that FDI in retail is bad for India and Walmart in particular perhaps a disaster? Those are the key subjects I should raise today with the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Enterprises Rajan Mittal. Mr Mittal lets start with the claim that FDI in retail will have an adverse impact on small retailers and kirana store. Many people believe that this is proved by the fact that, as Thai experiences have shown, in the five years since 1997 when the FDI was permitted, upto 60 per cent of the Thai-owned grocery stores closed down. How can you be confident that wont happen in India?
Rajan Bharti Mittal: You know two things I must point out Karan here is, one people are not seeing how retailing has happened in this country. If you see modern retailing or organised retailing as we call it, has been in India for almost last ten years. Big business houses are already in retail, lets not forget that. Here we are only talking about the colour of the money. We are not saying that we will not allow organised retailing versus unorganised retailing.
Karan Thapar: So you are saying if the big domestic business house havent had a deleterious impact why should FDI have the deleterious impact?
Rajan Bharti Mittal: Exactly, modern retailing is only about six per cent today and it is likely
09:30 PM, Sep 30, 2012
New Delhi: World's largest retailer Walmart Stores Inc is keen to open retail stores in India with the government allowing foreign investments in multi-brand segment. The company, which currently operates a 50:50 joint venture with the Bharti Group for wholesale cash and carry, however, said it would have to study the policy fully and evaluate before finalising its future course of action. "Of course, that's the whole idea. We are...
06:30 PM, Sep 16, 2012
