Regional News
Dec 4 (Reuters) – India’s government has put on hold plans to open up its retail industry to foreign supermarkets, a senior government source said on Sunday, postponing the landmark reform due to vehement opposition from both inside and outside the ruling coalition.
The move to allow global giants such as Wal-Mart into India’s $450 billion retail market, the first major economic reform since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s graft-riddled term began in 2009, has been met with fierce opposition from politicians who say it will destroy the livelihood of millions of small traders.
“This is a pause,” a senior government source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The leader of the ruling Congress party’s biggest ally said on Saturday that the government had informed her that the policy would be suspended until a consensus on the issue had been reached within the ruling coalition.
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Source: Reuters, December 4, 2011
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