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India opens supermarket sector to foreign players

NEW DELHI - India threw open its $450 billion retail market to global supermarket giants on Thursday, approving its biggest reform in years that may boost sorely needed investment in Asia’s third-largest economy.

The world’s largest retail group, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, and its rivals see India’s retail sector as one of the last frontier markets, where a burgeoning middle-class still shops at local, family-owned merchants.

Allowing foreign retailers to take stakes of up to 51 per cent in supermarkets would attract much-needed capital from abroad and ultimately help unclog supply bottlenecks that have kept inflation stubbornly close to a double-digit clip. Millions of small retail traders vigorously oppose competing with foreign giants, potentially providing a lightning rod for criticism of the ruling Congress party ahead of crucial state elections next year.

Food Minister K.V. Thomas said the government will allow 51 per cent foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail — as supermarkets are known in India. It will also raise the cap on foreign investment in single-brand retailing to 100 per cent from 51 per cent, the minister added.

The new rules may commit supermarkets to strict local sourcing requirements and minimum investment levels aimed at protecting jobs, according to local media. Under fire for a slow pace of reform, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s embattled government appears to be slowly shaking off a string of corruption scandals to focus on policy changes long desired by investors.

A heavyweight member of Singh’s coalition government warned on Thursday it totally opposed opening the sector.

Political opponents of the proposal, with an eye to the ballot box, argue an influx of foreign players — which could include Carrefour and Tesco — will throw millions of small traders out of work in a sector that is the largest source of employment in India after agriculture. India previously allowed 51 per cent foreign investment in single-brand retailers and 100 per cent for wholesale operations, a policy Wal-Mart and rival Carrefour, among others, have long lobbied to free up further. India’s biggest listed company, Reliance Industries, was forced to backtrack on plans in 2007 to open Western-style supermarkets in Uttar Pradesh after huge protests from small traders and political parties.