US cites RIL entry to make case for foreign retail chains

The Economic Times reports that the entry of Reliance Industries Ltd in the retail sector has led to the US pushing for the entry of foreign retail chains into the market. This discussion reportedly came up at the meeting of Indian and US officials at the CEOs Forum. India has been against the entry of foreign retail players saying that local vendors would be hit by such large scale operations, but US officials are countering this issue, that Reliance and Bharti Enterprises will affect local businesses just the same as Wal-Mart would.

A Commerce Ministry official said that,

“It is true that there is no way we can regulate the Indian companies which have turned retailers but given the political opposition we are not in a position to allow the foreign chains to enter the Indian market.”

While the government is open to allowing foreign retailers to set up shop in India, the Left and BJP are opposing the move on the grounds that it will cause widespread job loss in certain communities.