India - Parliament Backs Down on Plans to Allow Retailers IKEA & Wal Mart to Open Stores

Uploaded by FinancialNewsOnline on Dec 7, 2011

In the midst of a political backlash, the ruling Indian Congress party has backed down on a plan to allow such retailers as IKEA and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) to build stores in their country. Many small businesses feared they would be put out of business by the large retailers and even the political party's allies were quick to protest the decision. This marks a set back for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and once again seems to indicate that the current administration is increasingly adrift and ineffective especially in the wake of recent scandals and party opposition. The retail measure would have allowed single-brand companies like IKEA to open wholly owned stores in India and multibrand retailers like Wal-Mart to open stores with a minority Indian partner. However, this decision has merely been halted and not completely rescinded making it a possibility for this plan to move forward in the future.