US-based retail giant Walmart and some other foreign food retail companies have “shown interest’’ in bringing in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the food retail sector in India following the relaxation in investment rules.
“We have met the ambassadors and industry organisations of various countries to brief them on the new FDI rules in the food retail sector so that they can spread the word amongst their industry,” said Avinash Srivastava, Secretary, Food Processing Ministry, at a press conference on achievements of the sector under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Srivastava said that Walmart and some other big multinationals, including a Brazilian food company, had shown interest in bringing in FDI in the food retail sector, but had not applied officially. The government, recently, allowed 100 per cent FDI under government approval route for retail, including through e-commerce, of food products manufactured or produced in India. The BJP-led government, however, continues to disfavour FDI in the multi-brand retail.
“We hope that the FDI that will flow into the sector following this decision will reduce food wastage as well as generate employment,” Srivastava said.
The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), in its achievement report for the food processing sector under the ‘Make in India’ programme, pointed out that the sector attracted FDI worth $1.04 billion from April 2014 to March 2016. Food wastage was expected to come down by 10 per cent of ₹9,200 crore every year because of the 32 lakh tonne capacity of cold storage created with an expenditure of ₹9,000 crore in the the last two years.