The Centre is mulling over creation of an independent body to regulate the country's vast retail sector. The retail regulatory authority would ensure a level playing field for indigenous retail traders if the government opens the sector to more foreign participation. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Food has convened a meeting on July 8 in Delhi to discuss this and other proposals and chart a comprehensive plan for the sector, according to the agenda paper of the meeting.
It's intriguing why Pakistani security establishment sent 26/11 handler Abu Jundal to Saudi despite being aware that he would be highly vulnerable. M K Bhadrakumar analyses
India has been ranked as the most attractive nation for retail investment among 30 emerging markets by US-based global management consulting firm A T Kearney. According to the entity's Global Retail Development Index, India is followed by Russia (2), China (3), United Arab Emirates (4) and Saudi Arabia (5).
The low cost in reaching out to customers is what drives the small entrepreneurs to social media, points out independent product designer, Neil Dantas.
Retailers have learnt the costly lesson that stores must be opened where they can get a regular loyal customer base, and not necessarily in prominent locations which create hype and footfalls but no commensurate purchases.
Riding high on the retail boom in India, Bharti Retail on Wednesday opened its first store in Ludhiana.Meanwhile, the Bharti-WalMart joint venture is likely to kick off its cash and carry (wholesale) business in the third quarter of this year.
Anand Sharma, who took charge of the nodal ministry for FDI on May 29, said there is no need for a relook at the policy amended in February by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. While the policy does not allow overseas inflow into this sector, the changes in February were perceived to be opening the sector to FDI up to 49 per cent in an Indian firm that has a downstream subsidiary firm in retailing.
With confidence creeping back into the market place and rentals down up to 50 per cent, large retailers are back to drawing up aggressive growth plans. In the next one year, Aditya Birla Retail, Bharti Enterprises, Reliance Retail, Trent, Mahindra Retail and others hope to open new stores spread over five million square feet.
The Financial Times report citing Altavilla's court testimony stated that, "Fiat will name chief executive Sergio Marchionne, Alfredo Altavilla, its head of business development, and Lucio Noto, former vice-chairman of ExxonMobil, to the board of new Chrysler." Altavilla also said Marchionne should be named chief executive and "spend a substantial amount of time in Detroit."
Last year, the trade could not take place, for the first time since 1992, due to protests in Tibet in the wake of the Beijing Olympics. This year China has not given its permission so far heightening suspense over resumption of the trade at Taklakot mart in Tibet.
Software czar Bill Gates, legendary investor Warren Buffett and Apple's Steve Jobs, all known for their business acumen, have been named among the 20 best American CEOs of all time.
New Moon is in imminent danger of being eclipsed by the DVD/Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo of James Cameron's Avatar which hits the stores April 22 to mark Earth Day.
Tata Group ranks 13th, Reliance Industries 15th and Infosys 26th. Tata Group and Reliance Industries have been ranked ahead of American industrial conglomerate General Electric (17), German car manufacturer BMW (20), Japanese auto firm Honda Motor (22) and telecom major AT&T (23), among others. However, while the Tata Group slipped in ranking from the sixth place in 2008, Reliance Industries has improved on its previous year's 19th rank. Infosys was not in the list in 2008.
Faced with stiff competition from rivals and in a hurry to draw footfalls, hypermarkets are indulging in intense price war.
"We are looking at new markets", said P G Suresh Kumar, tourist information officer on the sidelines of a roadshow held in the city to promote the state's tourism. Admitting that though there had been a 30 per cent drop in oveseas tourist arrivals, he said it had been adequately compensated with the domestic tourist arrivals in the state.
Though Atchaya Multimedia Creations' Tamil movie has some laugh-out-loud moments, it is nevertheless hopelessly outdated.
Retailers such as Future Axiom and Vmart have decided to consolidate their business by reaching out to unexplored markets outside major cities, believing them to have been relatively unaffected by the downturn. Future Axiom's mobile bazaar CEO, Ashy Sehgal said, "Instead of spending heavily on attracting more customers in overreached metropolitan markets, we can target the unheeded customer waiting for us in smaller cities."
Raheja-owned Hypercity plans its growth on the back of quality merchandise rather than cheaper price points.
'Hundreds of thousands of people who earn their livelihood from the 12 million existing retail outlets may be put out of business by Big Retail,' says Bhavdeep Kang.
Reader Vinod Kumar sent us this picture from Chennai.
The privately-held company founded by Indian-American Amar G Bose would not say how many positions would be eliminated at its corporate headquarters in Massachusetts or how many workers it employs there. Bose issued a statement on Tuesday saying it was 'restructuring its operations in response to the decline of the global economy, and its impact on consumer spending.'
The 21 entities, which hit the market with their initial public offers, have raised as much as Rs 19,000 crore (Rs 190 billion), the highest ever in any year, according to primary market tracking firm Prime Database.
At least 35 per cent, or $400 billion worth of goods, that are sourced from China could shift to countries such as India, Thailand, Vietnam among others over the next 10 years, according to a study by US-based retail and supply chain solutions firm DCB and Company. India is expected to take the lion's share of volume shift compared to its counterparts in the region, the study says, due to its IT prowess, infrastructure and agents network.
With bilateral border trade through the historic Silk Route between India and China remaining open for one more month, the export turnover from India is likely to increase substantially. Annual border trade, which this year commenced three weeks after the scheduled date, had started on a tepid note to record a thin volume in the first two months, but the business picked up subsequently.
The Spices Board will take part in 13 global fairs during the current financial year.
Analysts said declining sales across the board from high end to low end stores points to the possibility of prolonged recession with consumers refraining from spending because of weakening job markets with hundreds of thousands losing jobs. Even those who have jobs are cutting down on spending because of fears of possible lay off as no one is sure how long the economic difficulties would last.
With consumer spending in the US and Europe recovering, many retailers, who typically place orders four months in advance, have started revisiting their suppliers in India.
Seeking to give new impetus to the bilateral relations, India and Malaysia today formally announced firming up of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to boost trade and decided on a range of other engagements in various sectors, including defence.
Will consider extending full support after reviewing the situation, says Sharma.
Speaking at Assocham's international retail summit, Rakesh Kacker, additional secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs, said the government would take a decision at an "appropriate time". He did not specify the time-frame. The move has been in abeyance due to protests from across the political spectrum.
The recent depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar is unlikely to ensure better margins for exporters as buyers in Europe and the US, facing lower demand in their countries, are asking for hefty discounts.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has made it to the annual list of the world's 100 most respected companies compiled by the Wall Street Journal, topped by US-based healthcare products major Johnson & Johnson.
Vimal also plans to emerge as the leading textile brand by 2009-10, on the back of an aggressive retail presence all over India and the introduction of innovative premium products. The brand will also offer complete solutions to export markets -- from fibre to garments -- and will sharpen focus on the global automotive furnishing business.
The gold prices on Tuesday dipped as low as Rs 11,000 per 10 gram, down nearly one-fifth from this year's high of Rs 13,650 scaled nearly a month-ago on July 15. The price has come close to its level seen during the Diwali season last year, when it stood at near Rs 10,500 per 10 gram. This year, Diwali falls on October 28.
The Sino-India border trade began on Tuesday. The transaction on the first day was not very significant. It consisted of exports of a few quintals of rice and biscuits valued at Rs 10,000.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (Glenmark), which reorganised its speciality and generics businesses recently, is looking to acquire a medium to large-scale speciality pharmaceutical company in the US.
Nainesh Patel, managing director of Farsan in Leicester, has started constructing the factory near Baroda to make inroads into Indian, American, Chinese and Australian markets. The Gujarat factory would allow Patel to supply two markets: quality British-made and mass-produced lower-cost.
Thanks to its acquisition of the Corus group, Tata Steel has made it to the Fortune 500 list even as India's largest corporate Reliance Industries climbed 63 places up to 206th rank. Companies qualify to the list on the basis of their revenues.
While the value of traded goods on both sides has been much below expectation at about Rs 700,000, Indian traders have also shown reluctance to visit the Renquingang Mart in the Tibet Autonomous Region to sell their products citing non-profitability of the business, the sources said. The number of Indian traders visiting the Renquingang Mart in TAR on a daily basis has been seven at the most, while on some other days a mere one to two, they said.
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