The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Mittal favours FDI for multi-brand retail

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Wednesday, Sep 15, 2010
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Mittal favours FDI for multi-brand retail

Special Correspondent

Underlines need to enter smaller cities

- Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

Talking growth: Chief Minister K. Rosaiah with Minister for Industry Kanna Lakshminarayana, Bharti Enterprises Vice-Chairman and MD Rajan Bharti Mittal and others in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

HYDERABAD: Bharti Enterprises Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Rajan Bharti Mittal has favoured full opening up of multi-brand retail sector for foreign direct investment.

Opening up of retail segment would give a major fillip to the agriculture and manufacturing sectors to FDI and keeping a cap on the FDI in these sectors would not serve any purpose, he said in an informal chat with reporters on the sidelines of the national executive committee meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here on Tuesday.

He said retailing was a more capital intensive business and long term business and it would need series of cold chains across the country to avoid wastage of agriculture produce. “You need money and technology to survive,” he said.

Asked whether there was need for stringent norms for retail chains to remain afloat, he said it was for the business houses to chart out their policies carefully. The government was only facilitator and it was up to the companies to ensure that their stores were intact. Mr. Mittal underlined the need to enter smaller cities, with population of over 2 lakh to make the change. There were enough retailers in the bigger cities and availability of retails chains and products was much lesser in smaller cities.

Bharti Enterprises, which had three cash and carry stores, decided to open up two more in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh before the year end in addition to several retail stores in the northern markets. The company plans to foray into the south next year. Addressing a meeting of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FAPCCI) later, he expressed confidence that Goods and Services Tax regime would be ushered in the coming months. Referring to power shortage in the country, he said nuclear power was the only solution.

Infrastructure

Pointing out that infrastructure would bring economic growth, he said that India would sustain the economic growth in the coming decades and economy would be doubled if necessary infrastructure was put in place. In this context, he said investments would flow into good States, southern States while those in the north were struggling.

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