More than two months after it expressed its inability to the government in meeting the 30% sourcing norms in the multi-brand sector, officials of Walmart have sought further clarifications on the procurement conditions.
Walmart?s Asia CEO Scott Price met Saurabh Chandra, secretary of the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), on Thursday and asked if sourcing raw material through mediators would be a violation of the FDI in multi-brand retail.
?The meeting was good and we discussed issues related to sourcing only. We have asked them to give these issues in writing instead of communicating verbally,? said a DIPP official.
As per the FDI policy, at least 30 % of the value of procurement of manufactured products have to be sourced from Indian small industries. Walmart, in July, hadsaid it could source less than 20% from Indian small and medium industries but has now agreed to the 30% floor.
?As said before, India is an important market for us. We continue to study the implications of the current FDI policy on our business and appreciate the government?s willingness to consider our requests to provide clarity on the conditions contained in the policy,? said a Walmart India spokesperson.
