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The minister believes it as the 'conditions in the country
were different from other countries'. "We need to see that the policy
does not dislocate small retailers," he told delegates at the India
Sourcing Summit held in Bangalore last week.
He said the organised retail was not as big in India
as it was in developed countries.
Mr Nath said building a good infrastructure including
roads was a priority for India. "Right now, we are building the highest
number of kilometres (of roads) per day. We are in the process of giving
them the highest priority," he said.
'The Chinese model of building roads had been based on
creating employment in the urban sector where as in the case of India
it is based on creating jobs in the rural sector,' he added.
"India is a growth story not driven by exports
but driven by the domestic market," he said, adding that the retail
in India was not like in malaysia or Thailand.
"We are expecting the ICRIER report on retail by
the end of February. Certainly, we can be more flexible in areas of retail
like electronics and sports goods. But, I want to see the whole report
and make sure what I believe is correct and is backed by a report,"
he added. 'Until I have the ICRIER report, I cannot do retail. I have
got to ensure these basic things. The point is that the neighbourhood
store should not be hit," he said.
Nath is in favour of opening sectors like electronics,
sports goods, pharmacy and confectionery to FDI as it would not have an
impact on the neighbourhood stores but would instead drive the Indian
industry, he feels.
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