India May Ease Rules for Foreign Food Retail Before November
- Global retailers want to also sell non-food items in India
- Government to decide before World Food India event November
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Following calls from global retail giants such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Tesco Plc, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to decide by November whether India is prepared to ease strict rules on food retailers, a minister said on Tuesday.
India allows 100 percent investment by foreign wholesalers, but if they want to access the burgeoning retail market, they can only have a 100 percent holding to sell food items. This forces them to overhaul their businesses instead of replicating models that have worked abroad, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, minister for food processing industries, said in an interview at her official residence in New Delhi.