After the snub, damage control

There was no question of cold-shouldering the company: DIPP

Was it a snub to the largest retail company of the world or was it not?

A cancelled meeting scheduled between commerce minister Anand Sharma and Walmart Asia head Scott Price has turned controversial as there were indications from some government quarters on Thursday that it could be a snub to the American chain as it's not moving on India plans.

However, a day later, the government began to distance itself from any snub motive. And, Walmart remained silent on all aspects of the meeting, fixed almost a fortnight ago for November 1 but did not happen.

Officials at the department of industrial policy & promotion (DIPP), which oversees policies for the retail sector, said on Friday that there was no question of cold-shouldering the company. Sharma's office maintained the meeting would be rescheduled for within this month and Walmart remained "a top priority" for the government's endeavour to open the multi-brand retail segment to foreign chains.

Saurabh Chandra, secretary of DIPP, told Business Standard: "It is a policy regime where everybody, be it Walmart or Tesco, is welcome."

So, what was Anand Sharma busy with through the day that he had to cancel the long-scheduled engagement with Price? Well, the minister was hosting a pre-Diwali lunch for cabinet colleagues and also editors. Some other "important functions" scheduled for Sharma were cancelled for the day, according to ministry sources, but they did not specify what these were.

As for Price, the chain didn't wish to say whether he was in India, the US, or any other place. However, a source revealed the sequence of events related to the Price-Sharma meeting. Price was all ready to board a plane to New Delhi earlier this week but he did not at the last moment. That's because his staff got a call from Sharma's office about two days before to cancel the Friday meeting, just in time for Price to change his itinerary.

Last heard, the government was trying to reach out to Price, who might not have taken the cancellation too well, to make up for the damage caused.

Although nobody is willing to call the cancellation a sign of rebuff, sources said Sharma has been upset that Walmart did not live up to the government expectation. Last year, the survival of the United Progressive Alliance government was almost put at risk when 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) was cleared for multi-brand retailing. The hope was that Walmart would be the first foreign retailer to set up stores in India.

More than a year later, not a single application has come from any foreign multi-brand chain, primarily due to the policy riders. And, last month, Walmart announced a parting of ways with Bharti Enterprises for their cash and carry business, dashing hope of the chain setting up multi-brand stores anytime soon in India.