After putting off meet, Sharma's office in a rush to fix new date

Scott Price skips flight to Delhi as last minute call from minister's office cancels meet

Was it a snub to the largest retail company of the world, or was it not? A cancelled meeting scheduled between commerce minister Anand Sharma and Walmart Asia head Scott Price turned controversial after feelers from some government quarters yesterday that it could be a snub to the American chain as it’s not moving on India plans.

But, a day later, the government began to distance itself from any snub motive. And, Walmart remained silent on all aspects of the meeting, that was fixed almost a fortnight ago for November 1, but did not happen.

Officials at the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) , which oversees policies for the retail sector, today pointed out that there was no question of cold-shouldering the company. Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma's office maintained that the meeting will be held within this month and Walmart remains "a top priority" for the government in its endeavour to throw open multibrand retail segment to foreign chains. Saurabh Chandra, secretary, DIPP, told Business Standard that "it is a policy regime where everybody, be it Walmart or Tesco, is welcome.”

So, what was Anand Sharma busy with through the day that he had to cancel the engagement with Price? Well, the minister was hosting a pre-Diwali lunch for his Cabinet colleagues and also editors. Meanwhile, some other “important functions” that were scheduled for Sharma, were cancelled for the day, according to ministry sources, but they did not specify the nature of these functions.

As for Price, the Bentonville-based American chain would not like to say whether he was in India, the US, or any other geography. But, a source revealed the sequence of events related to the Price-Sharma meeting. As per plan, Price was all ready to board the plane to New Delhi earlier this week, but he did not at the last moment. That’s because Price’s staff got a call from Sharma’s office about two days ago to cancel the Friday meeting. Perhaps just in time for Price to change his travel itinerary.  

Last heard, the government was trying to reach out to Price, who may not have taken the cancellation too well, to make up for the damage caused.

Although nobody is willing to call the cancellation a sign of rebuff, sources said Sharma has been upset that Walmart did not live up to the government expectation. Last year, the survival of the UPA government was almost put at risk when 51% FDI was cleared for multi-brand retail, and the hope was that Walmart would be the first foreign retailer to set up stores in India.

More than one year later, not a single application has come from any foreign multi-brand chain, primarily due to policy riders. To make things worse, last month Walmart announced parting of ways with Bharti Enterprises for cash and carry business, thereby dashing all hopes of the American chain setting up multi-brand stores anytime soon in India.

Walmart top bosses, mostly Price, have been frequent visitors at Udyog Bhavan that houses the commerce and industry ministry. That’s unlike other chains such as Tesco and Carrefour.