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Wal-Mart - Continued

There are a variety of problems with widespread organised retailing:

• Potholes – infrastructure
• Land grabs – it is difficult to get land
• Red tape – there is a “minefield” of paperwork to get through. Labour laws make it difficult to lay off staff, which is bad news for big businesses. According to a survey in 2003, a new shop needed about 15 licenses from 11 government bodies, which required 6 months and 500,000 rupees.
• People problems – there is a shortage of people with enough education to make good workers, although Reliance states that it is becoming a top choice for business graduates

The economy has grown, such as the GDP, which has increased 7.5% in the last three years. It is forecast that the economy will grow at an average annual rate of at least 6% over the next few decades. This is in part due to the surge of private spending, which accounts for 64% of the economy, which is higher than Europe (58%) and China (42%)

There has been debate over whether WalMart should be allowed to enter India. Some say that it will reduce jobs, as the US way is to maximise output and minimise labour, but others state that it will increase jobs (paid ones, anyway).

It has been implied that foreign investment should be allowed to combat domestic retail giants (Reliance was indicated to, but not explicitly named).