30% sourcing from small units a must: MSME Minister

26 Jul 2013 Evaluate

The government’s highly debated FDI nod in multi-band retail is likely to face another hurdle with the Medium and Small Enterprise (MSME) Minister, K H Muniyappa saying that global multi brand retailers must comply with mandatory 30 percent sourcing norm for small industries.

Retail giants like Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour have been demanding relaxation in the mandatory sourcing condition, expressing their inability on meeting the sourcing norm and have asked the government to make it to ‘preferably’ as in the case of single brand retail trading.

However, standing firm on its earlier stance, the MSME Ministry has further stated that multi-brand retailers should not continue sourcing items from small and medium units without a time cap even after crossing a minimum investment limit. The ministry has proposed that global retailer must not be allowed to source from small and medium enterprises (SMEs), three years after the unit crosses the investment limit of $ 1 million.

As per current policy, multi-brand retailers must procure 30 per cent of products mandatorily from SMEs with an investment in plant and machinery not exceeding $ 1 million.

Although, the government has permitted 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail about ten months ago but ironically, no multi-national company has approached the government to set up stores in India. Furthermore, a parliamentary panel had recently asked the government to set up a 'Retail Regulatory Authority' to deal with issues concerning foreign multi-brand retail companies in the country.

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