Govt may soften rules on multi-brand retail

After waiting for nine months and virtually attracting no investment in the multi-brand retail sector, the government is now thinking of easing some of the provisions which have held back investors from India.

Retailers such as Walmart, Tesco, Carrefour, Bharti, Aditya Birla Group, Tatas, Reliance and Pantaloon in their meeting with Commerce and Industry Ministry Anand Sharma last week had raised concerns about the 30 per cent mandatory sourcing norms from small and medium industries and also on the issue of investment in the back-end infrastructure.

Rules are also likely to be softened for foreign investors to open multi-brand stores in
non-hilly cities with population less than one million. A senior official in the Commerce Ministry said, "Foreign retailers want to open stores in cities with population less than a million.

They are saying this is important to spread network and to make their business viable.”  He, however, said that for some of the things cabinet may be needed to be approached.