Efforts by the Indian government to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country’s retail sector continue to hit potholes, with a call this week by the opposition party for MPs to unite to defeat the move.
In a heated Parliamentary debate on Monday, lower house opposition leader Sushma Swaraj called for votes against a bill aiming to introduce FDI being championed by the ruling Indian National Congress-led coalition.
“If the government does not take the decision back, then I appeal to my colleagues here: vote with us and defeat FDI,” she said.
Swaraj said foreign retailers would introduce predatory pricing to eliminate competition, reported The National.
“At first, they will introduce such low prices that will finish the rest of the market,” she said. “Then, when the customer has no other choice, they will keep hiking prices and looting the people.”
The entry of large foreign retailers like Walmart into the Indian market has even been compared to the rise of the British East India Company in the 18th century by one Indian MP.
India’s government maintains investment by foreign companies in the country’s retail sector, and accompanying reforms to India’s supply chain, are needed to reinvigorate the country’s slowing economic growth.
A positive vote on the bill is by no means guaranteed, however, and the government faces an uphill battle to pass it through both houses of parliament.
