FDI in Retail Industry: A Study Under the Indian Socio-Legal System

The Indian retail industry is termed as a sunrise sector with huge growth potential. According to the Investment Commission of India, the retail sector is expected to grow almost three times its current levels to $660 billion by 2015. The Ernst & Young’s 2012 India Attractiveness Survey says investors view India as an attractive investment destination. The recent change in government policy to allow FDI in Multi-brand retail can be seen as an important reform to revive the economy and mitigate inflation. Yet FDI in retailing remains a widely debated and heated issue in India’s rather volatile economic and political environment. From street/cart retailers working on pavements/roadsides and small family run businesses to international brands such as Rolex and Nike, the retail market in India is vibrant, colourful and highly fragmented. According to the non-government organizations, the domestic organized retail sector might not be competitive enough to tackle international players. Many observers are of the view that FDI will drain out the country’s share of revenue to foreign countries. Many of the small business owners and workers from other functional areas may lose their jobs, as lots of people are into unorganized retail business such as Kirana stores, paan-beedi shops, weekly haats and bazaars. In this context, the present paper attempts to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the influx of foreign direct investment in the Indian retail industry. It defines FDI, delves upon the FDI policy of India, provides an overview of the Indian Retail Industry, defines Single-Brand and Multi-Brand Retail Practices Moreover, with the latest move of the government to allow FDI in the multiband retailing sector, the paper analyses the effects of these changes on various stakeholders like farmers and agro-food sector. The researcher has adopted analytical, descriptive and comparative methodology for this paper; reliance has been placed on books, journals, newspapers and online databases.