| Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, has postponed its India plans indefinitely in the wake of rising political opposition to the entry of transnational retailers in the country, according to a report published in Economic Times today.
Carrefour India head Gerard Freiszmuth told ET, "We will not be in a position to announce any concrete India entry plan till policy issues on FDI in retail are made clear"
In February, commerce minister Kamal Nath had announced that Carrefour had identified its Indian partner (believed to be the Wadias) and the name would be made public in "2-3 weeks". The delay seems to be due to a call given by Ms. Sonia Gandhi, the all powerful Congress President, who advised the government to go slow and study all aspects and fall outs of the retail liberalization before going ahead.
Reasons given by the French retailer for delaying its India foray are largely due to two recent developments. "We are waiting for some more clarity on the Bharti-Wal-Mart structure. Simultaneously, we are awaiting the results of the Icrier study commissioned by the government, "Mr. Freiszmuth said.
Icrier is studying the impact of transnational corporate retailers on small mom-and pop stores. The study was commissioned by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in February.
April 27, 2007 |
