India set to open up retail sector as US pressure mounts
18 Feb 2011
India is seriously engaged in talks with stakeholders to open up the country's multi-brand retail sector to foreign investors, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said today.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the signing of the Indo-Malaysia trade agreement in Kula Lumpur, Sharma said the talks were at an advanced stage.
He, however, did not give a deadline for opening up the multi-brand retail sector, which has long been opposed by local traders as they feared it would be their undoing.
"We are very seriously engaged," Reuters quoted Sharma as saying in an interview in Kuala Lumpur. "It is receiving attention of the government in a most serious manner...it is in a very advanced stage of discussion," he said.
India, which has been holding back on opening up multi-brand retail sector to overseas investors, is now under increased pressure from the US business and government to allow investments in its $450 billion retail sector.
US retail giants like Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Tesco have long been seeking an entry in India and Sharma's comments should be seen as a signal to an early decision on it.