The government pulled a sensitive item in the reforms agenda out of cold storage on Tuesday, with the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) releasing a discussion paper on permitting foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail chains such as those run by the likes of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Carrefour SA around the world.
This move is fraught with political risk and comes a day after opposition parties joined hands for nationwide protests against rising inflation. There have been widespread fears that the entry of global retail giants could hurt kirana stores that dominate the retail trade in India and employ 33.1 million people, the most outside farming. Source
