Kannal Achuthan

and Priscilla Jebaraj

CHENNAI : Vegetable and fruit merchants in the city are planning to strike work to oppose the entry of Reliance Retail's chain of food stores.

Representatives of the traders in perishables said their business had plummeted since the entry of Reliance Retail in late January. About 5,000 merchants — from wholesale and neighbourhood markets in the city — will meet at the Koyambedu Wholesale Market complex on Sunday to prepare a charter of demands and to plan a strike.

"Reliance is able to undercut prices because it buys produce from the farmers. But it may hike costs once it has driven neighbourhood vendors out of business," said S. Chandran, secretary of Koyambedu Periyar Vegetable Market Licence Holders Association.

Other retail chains such as Subiksha, Spencer's Daily and Nilgiris buy vegetables from the Koyambedu Wholesale Market, so pricing is more or less standard, he said. Mr. Chandran also said Reliance was likely to buy up large tracts of agricultural land and engage in contract farming if its chain was allowed to expand.

V.R. Soundararajan, the association's president, said that sales in the Koyambedu Market had fallen by as much as 50 per cent. The traders would urge the State government to bar Reliance Retail from Tamil Nadu or curb its expansion, he said. A petition would be submitted to the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and Urban Development Minister Parithi Ilamvazhuthi.

Response

However, Reliance Retail is sticking to the point that there is space for all players in the market. "Their apprehensions are not correct. Small neighbourhood shops and pushcarts provide localised service that organised retail cannot match. So there is a place for everyone," said M. Balachandran, Chief Mentor of Reliance Retail.

Organised retail is only 2 per cent of the total retail industry in India, so it would not cut into anyone's profits, Mr. Balachandran said.

Reliance Retail has 14 stores in Chennai attracting a total of about 12,000 visitors a day.

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