Nath braves PMO's caution on retail

The policy spat in the government over allowing large players in the retailing arena has escalated, with the commerce and industry ministry digging in its heels over the move even in the face of a fresh caution sign hoisted by PMO. "There is no review of cash-and-carry (wholesale) business," commerce minister Kamal Nath said after meeting Wal-Mart Stores Inc vice-chairman Mike Duke and its Indian partner, Bharti Group chairman Sunil Mittal. Nath was responding to a flurry of queries after a fortuitous leak of a PMO letter to the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), reiterating concerns about the repercussions of the entry into retail of transnational supermarkets and large Indian corporate houses on small-scale retailers, vendors, farmers, consumers and on prices. The letter stressed that the February 7 response from the industry department had failed to address the issues raised by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Importantly, concerns about the proposed Wal-Mart-Bharti tie-up have been widely seen as the trigger for the sudden resistance to a policy measure which has been in place for years. Sonia, in her letter in early January, had expressly mentioned Wal-Mart’s plans for India.
courtesy:economictimes
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