'52% of Indian SMEs welcome early implementation of 51% FDI in multi-brand retail'

Mumbai, Jan 27(ANI): About 52 percent of Indian small and medium enterprises (SME) have expressed hope for an early implementation of 51 percent of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail with required notification and majority of respondents favour 100 percent FDI in single brand retail, a new survey has found.

A Confederation of Indian Industry survey found that 66.7 percent of respondents perceived the entry of multi-nationals as an opportunity, while 21 percent viewed it as a threat. About 12.5 percent of respondents said that the decision would have little or no impact on their business.

"India's growing retail boom is a success story. 51percent FDI in multi-brand retail and its early implementation would give a major boost to the all round growth of organized retail in the country having substantial positive impact on the growth of SMEs" CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said.

At least 98.6 percent respondents said the move would push up the sales of their products.

The survey also found that 98 percent of respondents expected that opening the retail sector to FDI would lead to growth in size of their industry, while 96 percent said it would have a positive impact in the form of the new orders/contracts generated

Around 48 percent of the respondents are of the opinion that the decision would have a positive impact on their employment, whereas 35 percent expect no change in the employment scenario. Around 16 percent expect the impact of FDI in retail on the employment in the SME sector to be negative.

The survey is based on a large sample size covering different categories of SMEs according to sales turnover in different regions of the country. (ANI)