India positive on multi-brand retail FDI: Anand Sharma

India positive on multi-brand retail FDI: Anand Sharma

INDIA has a positive mindset about opening up the multi-brand retail sector to foreign firms, but any democratic process takes time, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma has said. 
    The US should be in a position to appreciate the process as generating support for a policy is not easy there either. “Getting a Bill passed in the US Congress is not like ordering breakfast. It is difficult,” Mr Sharma said. 
    Some sections including small retailers have expressed concerns about allowing foreign investments into multibrand retail that have to be duly addressed, the minister said. “The process has to be transparent, inclusive and democratic so that when we take it (policy formulation) to the next stage, the level of opposition goes down,” he added. 
    India allows foreign investment up to 51% in single brand retail, but has not opened up multi-brand retail to foreign players. The US has been pushing for opening up of multi-brand retail with giants like Wal-Mart and Carrefour waiting in the wings. US President Barack Obama made a case for opening up of the sector while addressing industrialists in Mumbai on Saturday.