The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : `FDI in retail trade will affect job opportunities'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 28, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

`FDI in retail trade will affect job opportunities'

By Our Staff Reporter

MADURAI, FEB. 27. The Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the Centre to refrain from taking any hasty decision to permit foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail sector "without perceiving its ramification and undesirable impact that this move would have on the employment situation in the organised retail trade sector in the country."

"We have a large retail sector of which two per cent is in the organised segment and the rest in the unorganised sector and the entire sector is growing at the rate of 35 to 40 per cent on an annual basis," claimed S. Rethinavelu, the chamber president.

The local establishments would be badly hit "due to the ruthless competition and predatory pricing" adopted by multinational companies, he said adding the MNCs killed competition by unhealthy marketing practices and exploited consumers by charging prices "as directed by them."

This would lead to large scale closure of innumerable family managed retail shops as it happened in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc., and lakhs of skilled and semi-skilled workers would be rendered jobless, he said. Hence, it was imperative that all aspects of this highly sensitive proposal were carefully considered in depth by the Centre before committing to allow FDI.

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