CAIT claims 35,000 garment retailer closures on FDI violations by foreign businesses

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Dec 19, 2019

In the past 12 months, over 35,000 garment retailers have closed down due to foreign direct investment regulation violations by foreign e-commerce businesses, according to the Confederation for All India Traders.

On Wednesday, CAIT made new accusations against U.S.-owned e-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon, the organisation announced on Facebook. CAIT believes that the businesses are responsible for lakhs of businesses closing down over the past year, Financial Express reported.

CAIT claimed that over 35,000 garment retailers, as well as over 50,000 mobile retailers, 30,000 electronics retailers, and 25,000 kirana stores, have gone out of business due to predatory pricing by online platforms including Flipkart and Amazon.

A recent World Bank report stated that only 1.6% of total retail translations are online. CAIT responded that, “if only 1.6% of e-commerce sales has potentially destroyed the existing ecosystem of Indian retail… then the future seems extremely bleak and grave for India’s small retailers,” Financial Express reported. 

The World Bank’s report advised South Asian countries to focus on the e-commerce for economic growth. CAIT continues to protest through marches and letters to the government that Indian businesses should drive the country’s economic growth and that foreign players do not have Indian traders’ interests at heart. CAIT’s protests will continue into 2020.