Govt rebuffs traders, no rollback on FDI in retail

In a straight talk, the government today told agitating traders that it is not going to reverse the decision to permit FDI in retail and their concerns have already been addressed in the policy document.

In response, traders who called for a nationwide bandh yesterday under the aegis of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said they would decide further course of action at Nagpur on December 12-13.

CAIT delegation, accompanied by Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit met Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma here.

"They expressed some concerns which we felt are clearly addressed in the policy. Minister also made it very clear that is no exercise in roll-back," an official spokesman quoting Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) PK Chaudhery said.

The minister asked the CAIT delegation that they can nominate a three-member group for interacting with the DIPP officials who will "diligently" explain the policy to them. The traders have been asked to submit their concerns within a week.

"In principle, we are against the FDI in retail trade," Khandelwal said.

Traders fear that with the entry of global retailers, like Wal-Mart and Carrefour, there would be large scale displacement of neighborhood kirana shops.