Merchants’ Confederation of All India Traders (CAT) has objected to the Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) plan to raise Rs 1,500 crore by selling 7.8 percent stake to Walmart-owned e-commerce company Flipkart Group. CAT has said that the proposed deal is a violation of the government’s foreign direct investment (FDI) policy. CAT has written a letter in this regard to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday. The letter urged the minister not to allow the deal. Kat said ABFRL should not be allowed to sell its goods directly or indirectly on the marketplace platform owned by the Flipkart Group.
CAT general secretary Praveen Khandelwal has urged Goyal not to allow the proposed FDI unless ABFRL assures that it will not sell its finished goods through the marketplace of Walmart-owned Flipkart Group. . Kat said that the information the company has given to the stock markets shows the intention of making ABFRL a ‘preference seller’ on the marketplace owned and operated by the Flipkart Group, which is a violation of government policy. CAT said that the current FDI policy does not allow any foreign company to invest in any company, including e-commerce, in any kind of alliances in multi-brand retail trade, even if it is an online e-commerce platform. Why not join
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