Wal-Mart entra en India

En The New York Times: Wal-Mart entra en India de la mano de una alianza con una cadena local, Bharti, en medio de protestas del supermercadismo indú, temeroso de una crisis en el sector por la nueva competencia.

Wal-Mart and a venture partner, Bharti Enterprises, are working on a deal that could change the face of the country’s $300 billion retail sector and has aroused fears of mass job losses.
(...) Wal-Mart and Bharti plan a joint venture in a retail market that is forecast to more than double by 2015. Retailing in India, now dominated by small family-run stores, has also attracted the interest of other top global retailers like Tesco and Carrefour.
(...)The company, which is also discussing how to provide Bharti with technology support, said it also hoped to increase the amount of India-made goods it buys for its worldwide operations.
Analysts say investments in the supply chain, which is hamstrung by poor infrastructure, like refrigerated trucks and warehouses, would cut the number of middlemen and help reduce spoilage, estimated at nearly 40 percent of total output.
Bharti Retail, wholly owned by Bharti Enterprises, said earlier this week it would spend up to $2.5 billion by 2015 to build hypermarkets, supermarkets and other stores.
(...) But owners of small shops are concerned at what they call Wal-Mart’s “backdoor entry.”
Foreign multibrand retailers in India are restricted to cash-and-carry and franchise operations, the route chosen by Metro of Germany, Shoprite Holdings of South Africa and Marks & Spencer of Britain.
“We believe Wal-Mart is going to ruin this country and millions of people will lose their jobs,” said Dharmendra Kumar, campaign organizer in New Delhi for India FDI Watch, a coalition of trade unions, traders, students and communist parties.
Small shopkeepers fear that Wal-Mart could put out of work many of an estimated 40 million Indians whose livelihoods depend on retailing.