Dinesh Narayanan, Forbes India New Delhi, September 15, 2012 A day after it raised the prices of diesel and restricted supply of subsidized LPG, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government decided to push its political gamble further by opening up multi-brand retailing, civil aviation and the broadcast sectors. The decisions, especially the one to allow 51 per cent foreign investment in retailing, has already attracted sharp reactions from the opposition parties as well as allies such as Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. The union cabinet had first cleared the proposal last November but left it…
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Writankar Mukherjee, The Economic Times Kolkata, September 11, 2012 So what if West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee fights tooth and nail against foreign investment in retail, Kolkata has emerged a true city of joy for big retailers and fast-food chains since she came to power. Kolkata has become one of the highest revenue-grossing markets nationally for Future Group , Spencer's, KFC and Pantaloons among others over the past 12-8 months, much to the surprise of several marketers. Check this out. Spencer's Retail, Pantaloons and Future Group's Home Town have their top-selling outlets in Kolkata, and it's the top-performing market…
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Vidhi Choudhary, MINT (A Wall Street Journal Partner) New Delhi , September 11, 2012 Ben and Jerry’s Homemade Inc. signature ice cream flavours may soon be available in India. The unit of the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods maker Unilever Plc.—it took over the US company in 2000—is planning to enter the Indian market within six months, three food and beverage industry experts familiar with the company’s plan said. If it happens, Ben & Jerry’s will join other food and beverage chains such as Starbucks Coffee Co. and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts that aim to expand in India, where an economy that’s growing,…
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Priyanka Pani, The Hindu Businessline Mumbai, August 31, 2012 Even as brands and apparel retailers appear to have had a prolonged bumper sale against the backdrop of a general slowdown, festive season sales have got the short end of the stick. ‘Sale’ season in the country started around end-May, but was extended by eight weeks. For instance, Shoppers Stop is are still busy luring ‘shopaholics’ to stores with flat 51 per cent discount. “What typically used to be a month-long phenomenon has become a 3-month affair now. Shoppers are trying to extract the maximum benefit out of these sales. The…
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Meghna Maiti, Financial Chronicle Mumbai, August 30, 2012 For the first time in a quarter century, rural India outdid urban consumption in the past two years, according to a Crisil study. Rural spending rode on a big increase in incomes, mainly resulting from non-farm jobs and rural employment guarantee schemes. A young population, rising incomes and low penetration of many consumer durables mean that rural consumption has the potential to remain an important source of demand, the study says. But to sustain this, says the study, it is critical to substitute short-term income boosters such as government-sponsored employment schemes with…
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