The retailers and traders hosted sit-in protests across the nation on July 2, 2018, opposing Walmart’s proposed US $ 16 billion majority stake acquisition in India-based e-retailer Flipkart.
India’s trader’s body the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) is saying that the U.S. retail giant’s acquisition of home-grown e-commerce player Flipkart will dominate the market in the e-retail sector and end business of mom-and-pop (small business owned by a family) stores.
Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General, CAIT, was quoted as saying that he anticipated a million traders to join the sit-in protests spread across hundreds of cities, including the country’s financial capital Mumbai and places in Gujarat. “This is the first stage of our protest. If the government doesn’t listen to us, we will plan our next move in Delhi later this month,” he added.
However, Walmart issued a statement in which it claimed to provide consumer access to thousands of domestic suppliers and manufacturers through its marketplace model. Additionally, Walmart has announced today that it has extended the deadline to close the acquisition deal completely to June 7, 2019.
It remains to be seen how the Indian Government reacts to this outburst from small retailers and producers, who are feeling threatened by Walmart’s record investment in Flipkart.