A woman at a retail shop at Bakarganj in Patna on Saturday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Nov. 26: Traders, grocers and industry bodies have upped their ante against the Centre’s decision to allow global retail giants such as Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco to open stores in the country.

The groups feared that the multi-national retail players might ruin their business and leave lakhs jobless.

On Thursday, the Union cabinet allowed entry of 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, paving way for the multinational companies (MNCs) to set up shops in 53 cities across the country.

Patna is the only city in the state that qualifies the criteria to have 10 lakh or more population for getting such stores. According to the cabinet’s decision, the final decision for allowing such stores would be taken by respective state governments as retail trade is a state subject.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar has, however, made it clear that he does not favour MNCs in retail business, as it would lead to closure of many local retail establishments in the state.

“It will adversely affect local retail shops here because they cannot match the publicity and resources of the MNCs. This act is going to lead to the closure of many local retail establishments. The Centre has paved the way for unemployment,” Nitish said, while releasing his government’s annual report card yesterday.

“We welcome the fact that our chief minister has made the state government’s stand clear vis-à-vis multinational retail stores. We have been opposing any such move to open the retail sector for MNCs for the past 10 years. All parties, except the partners of UPA, are opposing it. We will not allow opening of mega stores as it will completely ruin our businesses,” Ramesh Chandra Talreja, general secretary of Bihar Retail Dealers’ Federation told The Telegraph.

When pointed out how the grocers of the state would be affected if such companies open their stores in Patna alone, Talreja, who owns a grocery shop at Pirmuhani, said: “Today the government is talking about allowing MNCs to set up shops in Patna only. But in future, the government might allow such mega stores to open in medium and small towns also. It’s not that only the grocers will be affected, but those dealing in cloth and medicines would be hit hard as well.”

He added that over 1 lakh grocers in the state and about 10 lakh people directly or indirectly employed in the household retail sector might suffer following the entry of retail giants such as Walmart.

Rakesh Kapoor, proprietor of a famous departmental store at Dak Bungalow, was sceptical about the prospects of his business with the entry of such big names in the retail sector.

“Everything will be finished as we won’t be able to compete with these MNCs. Since these companies purchase products in bulk directly from the manufacturers, they get a huge margin and offer lucrative incentives through schemes on every purchase. We witnessed almost 50 per cent decline in our business with the opening of retail chains like Vishal Mega Mart and Big Baazar. If these big companies come with huge capital, we will suffer an adverse impact of 90 per cent,” Kapur said.

Bihar Chamber of Commerce President O.P. Sah urged the Centre to reconsider its decision for the sake of the small-time traders.