Lobby group rallies support against Flipkart deal

INDIAN shopkeepers and traders affili­ated to a local lobby group held sit-in protests across the country on Monday (2) against Walmart Inc’s proposed $16 billion (£12bn) acquisition of e-com­merce firm Flipkart.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) had hoped to gather one million protesters to oppose the deal, but the numbers were far fewer, witnesses said.

“This is the first phase of our protest. And if the government doesn’t listen, we will decide our future course of action at our national convention in Delhi later this month,” Praveen Khandelwal, the CAIT secretary general told said.

The group says the US retail giant’s buyout of Bangalore-based Flipkart will create a monopoly in the retail market and drive mom-and-pop stores out of business. India currently allows 100 per cent foreign direct investment in e-com­merce firms that operate on an online marketplace-based model.

The sit-in in Delhi, where CAIT is based, attracted just about 50 traders and shopkeepers by noon, according to a witness. Attendance in other cities was also sparse.

Satinder Wadhwa, a watch seller who attended the Delhi demonstration, said a cash-rich Flipkart will be a major threat to small businesses like his own, which were already suffering due to a ban on high-value currency notes in December 2016 as well as a nationwide sales tax that was introduced a year ago.

In Guwahati, one of the main cities in the northeastern Assam state, about 300 traders gathered to protest against the Walmart-Flipkart deal, said Rupam Gos­wami, vice-president of CAIT.

Small sit-in protests were also held in different districts of India’s eastern West Bengal state.

Bentonville, Arkansas-headquartered Walmart announced in May that it was acquiring roughly 77 per cent of Flipkart, a deal that now awaits the approval of India’s anti-trust regulator.

Walmart, which currently runs 21 cash-and-carry stores in India, said on Monday it had been supporting local manufacturing in India by sourcing from small and medium suppliers, farmers and businesses run by women. “Our partnership with Flipkart will provide thousands of local suppliers and manu­facturers access to consumers through the marketplace model,” Rajneesh Ku­mar, senior vice-president, Walmart In­dia, said in a statement.