Foreign Direct Investment: The Big Bang in Indian Retail: VSRD-IJBMR, Vol. 2 (7), 2012, 327-337
Foreign Direct Investment: The Big Bang in Indian Retail: VSRD-IJBMR, Vol. 2 (7), 2012, 327-337
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R RE ES SE EA AR RC CH H A AR RT TI IC CL LE E
ABSTRACT
The winds of globalization sweeping across has taken the Indian economic environment in its fold and the proposals for further integration has gained momentum, The transformation has also changed the Indian consumer from a state of conserving resources, hes now ready to accept the shopping culture. The government encouraged by the outcome of economic policy of 1991 in India, has proposed retail reforms mainly as 100% FDI in the retail sector in India. It may benefit by bringing in investment into development of complete backend infra structure like cold chain & supply chain enhancing efficiency from farm to fork, as well as eliminating the exploitative system of middlemen which bleeds the farmers and squeezes the consumers. The paper scrutinizes the relationship of Foreign Direct Investments with the Indian Retail Sector. However, the Indian government must take decision to contain this revolution & safeguard the health of the Indian retail sector to stabilize themselves against competition from the giant players of the global economy in the present state of slowing growth, stubborn inflation & widening fiscal deficit in the country. Indias retail industry is divided into organized and unorganized sectors. Post liberalization, organized retail has grown exponentially and is a testament of the Indian middle classs burgeoning purchasing power. As a consequence, the opening up of the wholesale and single brand retail sector to foreign direct investment (FDI) was inevitable. India is ranked as the third most attractive nation for retail investment among 30 emerging markets with domestic companies like the Future Group, Tatas Westside, Reliance Fresh, Raheja Group and Bharti Retail competing for market share. The current regulations on retail allow 100% FDI in wholesale cash-and-carry trading. In single-brand retailing, 100% FDI is permitted while it is prohibited in multi-brand retailing. The question arises whether opening up of FDI in multi-brand retail will create problems or provide opportunities. There is no clear answer and ample views have been expressed by that in favour and against FDI.
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Research Scholar, Department of Management, Mewar University, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, INDIA. 2Director, Deewan Institute of Management Studies, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, INDIA. *Correspondence: [email protected]
Arun Kr. Singh et al / VSRD International Journal of Business & Management Research Vol. 2 (7), 2012
This paper is an attempt to get an insight as to what are the trends in Indian retail industry, advantages & disadvantage of 100% FDI in retail. Keywords: Retail; Organized Retail; Unorganized Retail; FDI.
1. INTRODUCTION
For Indian retailing, things started to change slowly in the 1980s, when India first began opening its economy. Textiles sector (which companies like Bombay Dyeing, Raymond's, S Kumar's and Grasim) was the first to see the emergence of retail chains. Later on, Titan, maker of premium watches, successfully created an organized retailing concept in India by establishing a series of elegant showrooms. For long, these remained the only organized retailers, but the latter half of the 1990s saw a fresh wave of entrants in the retailing business. This time around it was not the manufacturer looking for an alternative sales channel. These were pure retailers with no serious plans of getting into manufacturing. These entrants were in various fields, like - FoodWorld, Subhiksha and Nilgiris in food and FMCG; Planet M and Music World in music; Crossword and Fountainhead in books. Now India is in the midst of a retail boom. The sector witnessed significant transformation in the past decade from small-unorganized family-owned retail formats to organized retailing. Indian business houses and manufacturers are setting up retail formats while real estate companies and venture capitalist are investing in retail infrastructure. Many international brands have entered the market. With the growth in organized retailing, unorganized retailers are fast changing their business models. However, retailing is one of the few sectors where foreign direct investment (FDI) is not allowed at present.
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The sheer potential of Retail sector and its contribution in Indian economy highlights the relevance of this paper. The objectives of paper are : Advantages & Disadvantages of FDI in Retail. Impact of FDI on various stakeholders. Evaluate the effect of Organized Retail on the Unorganized Retail.
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employing 7% of the total workforce (only agriculture employs more) in the country, the retail industry is definitely one of the pillars of the Indian economy. Modern retail formats - The growth of western-style malls is changing the way urban consumers shop. We're seeing many bigger box, value based formats setting up shop. The size of these stores is about 50,000 square feet, a departure from the smaller mom & pop-type store that dominates the local retail landscape. Shoppers' Stop - department store format. Westside - emulated the Marks & Spencer model of 100 per cent private label, very good value for money merchandise for the entire family. Giant and Big Bazaar - hypermarket/cash & carry store. Food World and Nilgiris supermarket format. Pantaloons and The Home Store - specialty retailing. Tanishq has very successfully pioneered a very high quality organized retail business in fine jewellery.
A new entrant in the retail environment is the 'discounter' format. It is also is known as cash and- carry or hypermarket. These formats usually work on bulk buying and bulk selling. Shopping experience in terms of ambience or the service is not the mainstay here.
and retailing services, came into effect. 1997 2006 : FDI in cash and carry (wholesale) with 100% rights allowed under the government approval route. : FDI in cash and carry (wholesale) brought under the automatic route. Up to 51 percent investment in
a single-brand retail outlet permitted. 2011 : 100% FDI in single brand retail permitted.
The Indian government removed the 51 percent cap on FDI into single-brand retail outlets in December 2011, and opened the market fully to foreign investors by permitting 100 percent foreign investment in this area.
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Government has also made some, albeit limited, progress in allowing multi-brand retailing, which has so far been prohibited in India. At present, this is restricted to 49 percent foreign equity participation. The specter of large supermarket brands displacing traditional Indian mom-and-pop stores is a hot political issue in India, and the progress and development of the newly liberalized single-brand retail industry will be watched with some keen eyes as concerns further possible liberalization in the multi-brand sector. In this Paper, Author discusses the policy developments for FDI in these two retail categories, with a focus on the details of the multi-brand retail FDI discussion.
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space, it should first restrict them to lifestyle products segment before permitting them to spread their wings into other areas like grocery marketing that has a direct impact on `kirana stores'. FDI in retail trade has forced the wholesalers and food processors to improve, raised exports, and triggered growth by outsourcing supplies domestically. The availability of standardized products has also boosted tourism in these countries. FDI in retail sector has been a key driver of productivity growth in Brazil, Poland and Thailand. This has resulted in lower prices to the consumer, more consumption and higher profit for the producer.
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As of now, the Indian retail sector, largely due to its fragmented structure, suffers from limited access to capital, labour and suitable real estate options. In contrast, China, which allowed 49 per cent FDI in the retail sector since 1992, benefited immensely with foreign players bringing capital and new technologies and growing export market for domestic products. At present, around 40 foreign retail players account for almost 20 per cent of the organized retailing in that country. India is tipped as the second largest retail market after China, and the total size of the Indian retail industry is expected to touch the $300 billion mark in the next five years from the current $200 billion. The size of organized retailing is expected to touch $30 billion by 2010 or approximately 10 per cent of the total. Various retailers from across the word have been visiting India over the past few months with a view to establishing their presence in a market that is expected to witness exiting developments. On the contrary, the opening up of the sector to FDI will lead new economic opportunities and there will be more employment generation. According to a policy paper prepared by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), FDI in retail must result in backward linkages of production and manufacturing and spur domestic retailing as well as exports. The opening up of retail to FDI should be designed in a such as way that many sectors - including agriculture, food processing, manufacturing, packaging and logistics -reap benefits. It is understood that the multinationals that invest in retail business in India would also source Indian goods for their international outlets in a big way and thus provide a boost to Indian exports. Indian retail chains would get integrated with global supply chains since FDI will bring in technology, quality standards and marketing. According to the World Bank, opening the retail sector to FDI would be beneficial for India in terms of price and availability of products. Experience everywhere has shown that organized retailing tends to have a major controlling effect on inflation because large organized retailers are able to buy directly from producers at most competitive prices. The scale of operation and technology help organized retailers score over the unorganized players, giving the consumers both cost and service advantages. Government has opened up the real estate sector by allowing 100 per cent FDI in the construction projects. The move is expected to attract foreign funds and new technology into the market. Second, Foreign Trade Policy 2005-06 has extended the benefit of the export promotion capital goods (EPCG) scheme to the real estate sector. This is expected to tremendously boost the organized retail sector by enabling it to create better and modern infrastructure. Also, the extension of concessional duty scheme for import of capital goods by retailers with minimum area of 1,000 square metres and implementation of VAT will significantly help organized retailing.
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In view of the availability of higher disposable incomes for Indians, there is an increasing tendency to pay for quality and ease and access to a one-stop shop which will have a wide range of different products. If the market is opened, then the pricing could also change and the monopoly of certain domestic Indian companies will be challenged. In the eventual analysis, the consumers will benefit in the form of potential lower prices due to enhanced and, possibly, tough competition in the market.
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2. The global retailers would collude and exercise monopolistic power to raise prices and monopolistic (big buying) power to reduce the prices received by the suppliers. Hence, both the consumers and the suppliers would lose, while the profit margins of such retail chains would go up. 3. It would lead to lopsided growth in cities, causing discontent and social tension elsewhere. However, these arguments can be overruled in the light of the ICRIER study conducted in India in 2008, which showed that although unorganized retail suffered initially with the opening up of organized retail in their vicinity, this effect significantly weakened over time. The rate of closure of unorganized retail shops in gross terms was found to be 4.2 % per annum, which was much lower than the international rate of closure of small businesses. Similarly, the rate of closure on account of competition from organized retail was found to still lower, at 1.7 per cent per annum. This was achieved through competitive response from traditional retailers and through improved business practices and technology up gradation. However, the development of organized retail has the potential of generating employment for both the skilled and unskilled sections of the population. The Government can protect small retailers by restricting FDI to be permitted only for stores having floor size greater than, say, 2,000 square feet. Moreover, monopolies of large corporate houses can also be controlled by the Government by enforcement of strict regulations and, where needed, through the Competition Commission of India which is empowered to evaluate abuse of dominant position. The foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Indian retail sector should be allowed in a phased manner so that it could serve the purpose of much-needed capital and bring boom in the sector, according to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Chairman Kishore Biyani. 1. FDI should be gradually allowed first in relatively less sensitive sectors like garments, lifestyle
products, house ware and entertainment." 2. Alternative funding mechanisms and investment opportunities should be considered like FIIs and
venture capital in the primary market, besides FDI. Hence they should be legalized and encouraged in the primary market. 3. Industry needs time for capital formation, which would take at least two-three years.
The gradual inflow of FDI should not be a hindrance for the growth of the retail sector. Goals: 1. 2. To serve the purpose of much needed capital and bring a boom in this sector. To enhance the backend infrastructure.
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9. FUTURE SCOPE
The sentiment towards 100 percent FDI in retail sector is gathering pace. Currently, the UPA has a majority in the house and it seems quite possible that they will be able to pass the bill, making FDI in multi-brand retailing,
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a reality. Moreover, with state governments like Punjab working with modern retailers in furthering improvement of trade, there is a possibility that support will flow in from other state governments as well. However, the opposition led by the BJP is not in favour of this move and has presented a report recently to the Parliament recommending a complete ban on FDI in retail. The proposed FDI norms will open up strategic investment opportunity for global retailers, who have been waiting to invest in India. This may have a significant impact on the current arrangement of foreign players. This policy will require investment from retailers in areas of supply chain, especially for perishable products, thus helping farmers to get better income leading to an inclusive growth in the country. Given the large number of SKUs that retailers stock Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector is also set to gain from this move due to preference given by retailers to private label brands. The move will also encourage smaller suppliers to take their products to a national platform that they could not previously manage due to lack of an organised supply chain of their own. This policy will also open up avenues for attracting, developing and retaining talent. Contract manufacturers would also benefit from these policy changes. With the global economy still recovering, investment in India is lucrative to a retailer attributable to strong consumerism, rising disposable income, growing middle class population, favorable macro and micro economic indicators supplemented by a stable government.
10. CONCLUSION
In the final analysis, for India, FDI in multi-brand retail should be seriously considered by the government and, as with many other sensitive sectors (like defence); a gradual opening up could be made possible. Despite country wide speculation on the plight of various Stakeholders, trading associations, politicians, etc. have given various arguments for and against FDI in retailing. However, such arguments are largely based on perception and there has not been serious academic research in this area. India needs to take a lesson from China where organized and unorganized retail seem to co-exist and grow together. Further, Indias local enterprises will potentially receive an up gradation with the import of advanced technological and logistics management expertise from the foreign entities. In our view, the government has an opportunity to utilize the liberalization for achieving certain of its own targets: improve its infrastructure; access sophisticated technologies; generate employment for those keen to work in this sector
FDI would lead to a more comprehensive integration of India into the worldwide market and, as such, it is imperative for the government to promote this sector for the overall economic development and social welfare of the country. If done in the right manner, it can prove to be a boon and not a curse.
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11. REFERENCES
[1] Anonymous Retail Industry in India http://www.cci.In/pdf/surveys_reports /indias _retail_sector.pdf. [2] Department of Commerce, Government of India, 23-Feb-2005, Press Release on FDI in Organized Retail to generate Employment, but should not displace ongoing Retail activities, available at http://commerce.nic.in/PressRelease/pressrelease_detail.asp? id=1673. [3] Economic Survey (2007-08), Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi, 2008 available at http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2007-08/ economy.html. [4] ICRIER study, Impact of Organized Retailing on the Unorganized Sector May 2008
fromhttp://siadipp.nic.in/policy/icrier_report_27052008.pdf [5] Joseph, Mathew and Soundararajan, Nirupama (2009), Retail in India: A Critical Assessment, Academic Foundation, NewDelhi.5 [6] Kearney A.T., (2006) Retail in India Getting organized to drive growth. DIPP. (2010), Discussion paper on foreign direct investment (fdi) in multi-brand retail trading, Department of Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion, New Delhi. [7] Mohanty, J.P, Sharma Kamal, Guruswamy Mohan, Korah Thomas J. FDI in India's Retail Sector More Bad Than Good. Center for Policy Alternatives (CPAS), New Delhi. [8] Mukherjee Arpita and Patel Nitisha (2005), FDI in Retail Sector: India, Academic Foundation, New Delhi. [9] Websites: a. b. c. d. http://www.oecd.org www.financialexpress.com http://www.iie.com www.legalindia.in/foreign-direct-investment-in-indian-retail-sector
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