Reliance opts out of race for ailing Super Bazar

Reliance Industries Ltd. said on Thursday it was withdrawing its bid for ailing cooperative retail chain Super Bazar over the government's refusal to hand over management and control."We would like to withdraw our offer in view of the government's refusal to change the law," Soli Sorabjee, a senior counsel for Reliance, told the Supreme Court of India.Reliance, which recently forayed into retail, had bid 2.88 billion rupees for the chain.Reliance had said at the previous hearing it would not want to invest a huge amount of money unless it had effective management and control over Super Bazar, which would require a change in the existing law for cooperatives.India's cooperative law has strict limits on shareholding, management and control of cooperatives.A cooperative unit may be merged, amalgamated or taken over by another cooperative unit. But it cannot be taken over by a private company, according to the law.The government will examine offers from Indian Potash Ltd. and the Indian Labour Cooperative Society for the revival of the ailing Super Bazar chain.Reliance Retail Ltd. is spending more than $5.5 billion in setting up formats ranging from convenience stores to hypermarkets in India. It also manages the supply chain and back-office operations of several cooperative stores in Mumbai.

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