Why does India need FDI in retail? We're not talking about high-tech military ToT here, just plain old retail.
The Mittals and Ambanis and Tatas have billion dollar pockets. Why can't they invest in India and create 100% Indian jobs with 100% Indian profits?
In India (as in many other countries) there is a 3 step supply of any retail product. First being the producer, second being the middlemen, third being the retailer, adding the profits of all three a normal product gets too much inflated. On the contrary, Retail chains such as Wal-Mart, directly buys the product from the producer (or even on some counts directly produce some of the products), this helps Wal-Mart sell a product to the consumer at a good discounted rate than any ordinary retailer. Now the Indian govt. contends that since the inflation in India is high because of the middlemen involved in any supply chain, FDI in retail will help remove the middlemen from the chain (as if they are modern day Ravana
), thus it will be a win-win situation for both the ordinary consumer (who will get a product by paying less) & Foreign retailers (who will make big profits from second fastest growing economy) & govt. will in turn get the much needed FDI which can bring back the economy to the 9+% levels. FDI in retail is nothing new, even China has many Wal-Mart stores, plus since Wal-Mart (& likes) are into retail business since very long time, they can help make the unorganized retail sector in India more organized. Ambanis & others are already into many businesses in India, govt. cannot force them to open retail business chains like Wal-Mart, plus they don't have the experience of Wal-Mart in retailing not to account the shear size of it (i.e. $ 450 billions).
Though all is not as well as the govt. is trying to project, middlemen will become the biggest causality in FDI in retail, normal retailer will lose large chunk of his business to big retailers (he can never compete with them) as consumers will prefer to buy every thing from latter. Profits whatever earned by the big retailers will flow out of India & they can be the cause of more unemployment in India.
But lets wait & watch what happens after the Big Foreign Retailers come here, i guess retailers & middlemen have to adapt to the situation or they will perish under the Darwin's law.