Days after Walmart picked holes in India’s local sourcing norms, Kolkata-headquartered RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group has said “too many restrictions” was the prime reason behind India’s failure to attract FDI in the retail sector.

However, Goenka, who owns Spencer’s Retail, one of India’s largest retail chains, avoided any direct reference to Walmart or other foreign retailers.

Talking on the retail space in general, he said his company was forced to undergo a varied set of norms imposed by different States and local bodies for opening outlets.

“There are too many restrictions,” he said at a media conference here on Friday.

According to him, there is an urgent need for Indian retailers to improve back-end operations, either through collaboration with other domestic players or through tie-ups with foreign operators.

Will he withstand competition from deep-pocketed foreign retailers with a free run?

Goenka feels his greatest competition is the local kiranawala .

“As long as you can compete with the kirana stores next to your shop, you can compete with anyone,” he said.

Stating that Spencer’s was now grossing the highest per-sq ft sales revenue among large retailers in the country, Goenka said store-level EBIDTA stood at Rs 61 per sq ft in the April-June quarter.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW