Wal-Mart and Bharti Enterprises finally sign a deal to set up a chain of wholesale outlets in India. Will this be the end of the road for thousands of traders and small shopkeepers in the country?

A few hundred Indian traders and small shopkeepers took to the streets in the Indian capital New Delhi, on August 9, to protest against the arrival of US retail giant Wal-Mart. But a planned nationwide day of action against organised retail evoked only a lukewarm response.

“Wal-Mart, Down, Down”, “Wal-Mart, Go Back”, a crowd of about 200 people shouted in the bustling Delhi market of Chandni Chowk. In the country's financial capital, Mumbai, speakers at a protest meet lamented that only around 200 people turned up.

Other protests took place in Ranchi, in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, where some traders threatened to ransack any new private retail outlets, and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh where a strike called by left parties was partially successful.

In Kolkata, where communists opposed to the entry of foreign retailers are in power, only about 800 traders and shopkeepers attended a meeting -- far less than the 5,000 people the organisers had expected.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc and India's Bharti Enterprises recently signed a delayed agreement to jointly set up a chain of wholesale outlets.

The entry of foreign retailers, even the establishment of supermarkets by Indian company Reliance Industries Ltd, has been vehemently opposed by some political groups, traders and small vendors who regard them as a threat to their livelihoods. “The government policies are today corporate policies,” said activist Vandana Shiva, who led the New Delhi protest. “It's the ‘raj' (rule) of Reliance and Wal-Mart.” She said large companies would make the Indian farmer dependent on them for purchases.

India's retail industry, valued at nearly $ 350 billion, is expected to double in size by 2015, with organised retail's share of that expected to increase rapidly from the current 3%. India limits multiple-brand retailers like Wal-Mart to wholesale and franchise deals.

Source: Reuters, August 10, 2007
www.ndtv.com, August 10, 2007