India measures up in retail study
PwC has ranked india among the 6 most attractive destinations for investing in retail
| In its third edition of the retail and consumer study titled 'From Beijing to Budapest: New Retail and Consumer Growth Patterns in Transitional Economies,' covering 14 countries, PwC has put a 'Go' recommendation on these six countries, reversing a 'caution' tag it placed on India in its previous study brought out in January this year. |
| "India's outstanding capabilities in IT will ensure an extremely rapid and dynamic development in the modern retailing space," said NV Sivakumar, leader (retail and consumer products), PwC India. |
| The study determines that the most immediate opportunities in the retail and consumer sector lie in China and that India offers more long-term potential for investment in the sector. Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia and Hungary are considered investment havens that offer general opportunities for development in the short or longer term. |
| Sivakumar added that consumer goods companies have already established themselves with success in India and there is huge potential for future development as the country modernizes. |
| Currently, foreign retail and wholesale investment is restricted to cash & carry outlets and, to a lesser extent, e-commerce. The size of the organised retail trade in India, currently around Rs 15,200 crore, is estimated to grow to Rs 52,000 crore by 2010. |
| In its previous report, PwC has asked multinational retail companies to treat India with caution on account of strong regulatory controls and some element of political risk. |
| "The new Indian government is designing policies to help improve the lifestyles of people. Partnerships between foreign retail and consumer goods companies with local firms will undoubtedly contribute to the improvement of lifestyles and higher levels of employment and consumption, when this becomes possible in the future," said Sivakumar. |
| According to PwC, althought the regulatory environment still remains the same, it is only a matter of a year or two before the retail sector is opened up in the country. |
| "It is the only non-strategic sector not open for FDI and we think it is only a matter of time before things change. So it is important for global retailers to start planning for India now," said a senior PwC executive who worked on the report. |
| He added that the recent positive statements made by the top retailers like Walmart about India is likely to have an impact on both government policies and the external perception about doing business in the country. |