When will India be ready for foreign retail companies?
A. It is a myth that the Indians kind of revel in. They think that foreigners are waiting with bags full of money to come and invest. They should invest when the investment climate is encouraging. As of now it does not look very encouraging. And I am extremely surprised at the news report in one of the financial dailies talking about Walmart and Mark & Spencer coming to India. I somehow find it extremely difficult to believe why a retailer such as Mark & Spencer has to choose a franchisee route to come into India. It is not so easy to set up business in India. The merchandise will be subjected to the high import duties, which will make it commercially unviable for an overseas retailer to set up business. When an Indian retailer – if he has to import and start selling in India – cannot handle the restriction, how can a foreign retailer do so? A company like Walmart will be under more pressure than an Indian company because the Indian guy has a supply chain in place whereas the foreign r
