CAIT urges government to remain steadfast on FDI regulations

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Oct 23, 2019

The Confederation of All India Traders wrote to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to urge the government to strictly enforce its foreign direct investment regulations on Walmart to protect Indian traders.

The CAIT, which has been vocal about its fears that Walmart’s businesses practices in India will hurt the country’s domestic traders, has asked the Union Government to uphold its FDI regulations and refuse to concede to Walmart, the Press Trust of India reported. The CAIT asked the government to prioritise the country’s seven crore traders over foreign-owned big businesses in a letter on October 22. 

"These kind of rhetorics by global players are nothing but a pressure tactic to find a headway into the large existing business potential of India's Rs 45 lakh crore retail market," the CAIT’s secretary general Praveen Khandelwal wrote in the letter, accessed by the Press Trust of India. "We urge you not to concede any ground to these unscrupulous corporates or buckle to the pressure which they are attempting to create for their own personal gains by disregarding the sanctity of India's well defined laws and policies."

The CAIT’s letter follows a request by Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon asking the government to reduce the number of licenses and permits required to open new stores in the country. Khandelwal, however, stated that Walmart India is engaging in monopolistic business practices.