Indian street vendors have taken to the streets surrounding Walmart’s headquarters in Gurgaon to protest against the retail giant’s expanding presence in the South Asian nation.
According to NPR News, some protestors wore headbands with the tagline “No Walmart” while others carried signs that read “Stop uprooting hawkers and vendors.”
Geetanjali Arora of India’s National Hawker Federation told NPR that his organisation is growing increasingly cautious about the level of influence the US-based conglomerate is having on the retail sector.
“Our main concern with Walmart and really any of the malls here is that many of them are selling fresh produce, and fish and meat,' Arora said.
Walmart currently operates 20 stores in India under the Best Price Modern Wholesale banner. It recently announced plans to open an additional 50 stores over the next five years.
All Best Price Modern stores are run under a cash and carry model, requiring all customers to be paid-up members of the franchise.
A requirement of the model is that the retailer cannot sell directly to the end customer, but rather to a middle tier business that then on trades the products to the public. However, a recent investigation by Indian news site Cobra Post alleges there has been a growing trend for cash and carry retailers to sell directly to consumers.
'That's really affecting people who earn a daily living selling these products,” Arora told NPR.
