Track2Realty: The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has strongly objected to the reported statement of Ashok Chawla, Chairman, Competition Commission of India (CCI) who has openly favored FDI in Retail.
To protest against the decision of the Union Government to allow FDI in multi-brand retail, the Confederation of All India Traders(CAIT) and Bharat Udyog Vyapar Mandal have called for a Bharat Trade Bandh on 20th September,2012 in which they claim that about 5 crore traders and more than 10 thousand trade associations across the Country will participate.The Traders have appealed all national and regional political parties to extend their support to Bharat Trade Bandh call.
Terming the Government’s efforts to form consensus on FDI in multi-brand retail without consulting traders as ‘highly undemocratic’, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) today said foreign investments by MNCs will hijack the country’s retail trade which would lead to closure of majority of small businesses and job losses for lakhs of people engaged in the sector.
With FDI now permitted for multi-brand retailing in India, global retail giants are now zeroing in on India.
Track2Realty-Agencies: Indian retailers feel that the clarification by DIPP on FDI in multi-brand segment, which among others require mandatory fresh investment in back-end infrastructure, will create hurdles and neither encourage foreign players nor domestic firms.
Track2Realty: The commercial property market has slowed down, considering it has a strong correlation with global and economic factors and performance. The office segment has seen a pronounced dip, with absorption levels in the two major markets of Mumbai and Delhi-NCR seeing a year-on-year slump of 47% and 26% respectively, as per industry sources.
The recent decision by the Government to allow foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail is understandably the talk of the town. There are various points of view regarding the impact it will have on the retail sector in specific and the Indian economy in general, but the decision is a big step in the direction of strengthening organized retail in the country. To get the complete picture, it is important to understand the situation which exists currently and how the new regulations are going to change the retail landscape.
The government’s decision to operationalise FDI in multi-brand retail would help the realty sector as the move would create demand for retail space and boost mall development in the country, real estate developers and property consultants said.
Battling huge vacancies, piling inventories and lacklustre rentals, the Indian real estate is looking forward to retail FDI as a savior, expecting a windfall following the entry of global giants looking for more retail space for expansion.
The introduction of FDI in multi-brand retail will lead to increased demand, which in turn will catalyze more investment opportunities in organized retail.