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ShareNew Delhi: S Robson Walton, chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Inc, must be disappointed his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during what the company called a "short private visit" to India, failed to win support for a pet cause -- getting the government to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
No sooner had Walton left the country than the government reiterated its reluctance to do his bidding.
"This is not the time for us to revisit the policy. Single-brand retail is good enough. Those who have commenced operation are happily doing business and so we cannot tweak the policy as of now," commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said to a query from the media on the sidelines of the India-EU Business Summit on Friday.
Wal-Mart, which has a wholesaling joint venture with Bharti Group, is keen to enter the retail segment and wants the ban on FDI in retail lifted -- an issue Walton is said to have taken up with the PM.
The company in a statement said Walton "was on a short private visit to get a first-hand, personal view of India and its people."
It didn't say what he discussed with Singh, though.
Currently, foreign companies are barred from opening retail stores or buying stakes in supermarket chains in the country, though they can operate wholesalers that sell groceries and other goods to businesses such as supermarkets, department stores and restaurants. Overseas investment in the retail industry is limited to 51% in single-brand merchants.
Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt Ltd, in which Bharti and Wal-Mart are equal partners, opened its first wholesale store on May 30 in Amritsar. The venture plans to open 10 or 15 cash-and-carry wholesale stores wholesale outlets and employ 5,000 people during the next three years.
Meanwhile, at the India-EU summit, the European Union showed keenness on a free trade agreement (FTA) with India.
European Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton said the union was looking forward to finalising the FTA with India by next year and also hoped to fulfill the Doha Round by the same time.
Sharma pegged Indo-EU bilateral trade at $200 billion by 2013. "Given the exponential growth in services and the fact that the sector is giving the much needed fillip to the GDP growth, the sector holds a lot of promise," he said.
EU-India free trade negotiations were initiated in 2007 but the process has been slow owing to reservations on intellectual property rights.
EU's move to precondition trade with India's performance in social as well as environmental fronts also contributed to pacing down the talks. However, with the EU as one of the country's biggest trading partners, Indian exports jumped 29% to $34.5 billion in 2007-08.
On the Doha Round, Sharma said, "If we succeed in putting in place a rule-based multi-lateral trade regime, we will correct a historical imbalance and create trust and understanding among nations."
(With Bloomberg)
