The Metro Cash & Carry store off EM Bypass

Calcutta, Oct. 6: Forward Bloc leaders today suggested they might agree to pare the minimum bill amount for Metro Cash & Carry, per item and per customer, from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1,000.

The German wholesaler’s representatives, however, declined to accept the condition at a meeting with the government and the Bloc-run agri-marketing board, participants at the talks said.

Metro officials allegedly said accepting the term would go against the business strategies the company follows in other cities. Metro’s outlets in Bangalore and Hyderabad have a Rs 1,000 minimum bill threshold, but it’s for multi-item sale.

When contacted, a Metro spokesperson said discussions were on and the company had no statement to make at this stage.

After the meeting at Writers’ Buildings, Bloc leader and marketing board chairman Naren Chatterjee said: “The latest proposal has come from the government side but has not been finalised. We may not stick to the earlier amount of Rs 5,000 for a single-item bill.”

He added: “But it should be decided at the political level since it (the Rs 5,000 cutoff) was fixed at a meeting between the CPM and Bloc leaderships in the presence of the chief minister.”

Bloc veteran Ashok Ghosh, however, said he would not mind accepting the latest formula. At the meeting, Metro said it would not accept any conditions specific to it, participants said. “If it’s within the ambit of the law, Metro would obey. But no more,” a source said.

Subesh Das, principal secretary to the chief minister who was at the meeting, said the minimum bill amount was now the lone sticking point since Metro had accepted the other five conditions. Further meetings will be held to finalise the deal before the MoU is signed on October 10.

Two of the conditions are that Metro cannot enter the retail market or engage in contract farming. Another is that its buyers must obtain the board’s licence.

Also, Metro must obey the provisions of the agricultural produces marketing control act, which means it must procure farm goods from board-run regulated markets and provide regular information on its stocks and prices to board officials.

Finally, all legal disputes must be settled in Calcutta.