English
Amid growing protest by small traders, Walmart today reassured people that through its B2B business (Wholesale cash-and-carry) in India the company is not only supporting lakhs of small kiranas succeed but also helping them modernise.
The company said in an official statement, “Our continued efforts have been to support domestic manufacturing in India by sourcing locally from SME suppliers, small farmers and women-owned businesses. A clear testament of that is showcased in our merchandise 95 per cent of which come from within the country.”
The traders across the country protested today against US retail giant Walmart’s proposed acquisition of 77 per cent stake in home-grown retailer Flipkart in a USD 16-billion deal.
Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal alleged that the e-commerce market place has been vitiated to a great extent in past years by several leading e-commerce companies by indulging into all kinds of malpractices including predatory pricing, deep discounting and loss funding .
“Today it is Walmart and tomorrow it may be Amazon or Alibaba who can follow this path with the result that retail trade will restrict to few hands,” CAIT said in a statement.
To address the fears of small traders, Walmart said, “India is one of the important countries from where Walmart sources a significantly large volume of products for other WalMart markets. These products include handicraft, textile, apparel, pharmaceuticals etc, and hence give a boost to local manufacturing and exports.”
The company has claimed that its partnership with Flipkart will provide thousands of local suppliers and manufacturers access consumers through the marketplace model. “This partnership will support SME suppliers, farmers in the country to get access to the market through this platform and boost local manufacturing in India.”
The combined capabilities of Flipkart and Walmart has created the biggest e-commerce platform in India. The company says this will benefit India by providing quality, affordable goods for customers while creating new skilled jobs and fresh opportunities for small suppliers, farmers, and women entrepreneurs.
(With PTI Inputs)
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