People's Democracy

Tripura CM writes to PM on FDI in Retail

The following is the text of the letter written by Manik Sarkar, chief minister of Tripura to Manmohan Singh, prime minister of India on the FDI in retail trade.

i am writting this letter to convey the grave concern of the government of Tripura on the recent move of the government of India to allow 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. The issue was discussed in the meeting of the council of ministers of Tripura held on November 29, 2011 and the consensus view was that the move would affect the interests of our nation in a very adverse manner.

As we all know, the retail sector in India provides employment to over four crore people, which is second only to agriculture. The entry of large foreign retail giants like Walmart in India, whose operations are higly capital-intensive, is bound to wipe out the small retail, leading to large-scale joblosses in the country. The international experience also points in this direction as small retail has virtually been wiped out in many developed countries. The international retail giants typically source their goods internationally which is bound to adversely affect the domestic farming community as well as domestic industries. Such global retail giants also often resort to predatory pricing for maximising their profit which in turn results in exploitation of the consumers. In fact, it is only a reflection of these realities that this decision is being opposed by people at large as well as several political parties.

In view of the above, I would request you to kindly reconsider the decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand in India and to put a complete ban on FDI in the retail sector.