Reliance’s retail dreams have turned into a nightmare with protests across many frontiers. Will the protests rein in Mukesh Ambani or further fuel his ambitions?
The senior Ambani’s titanic retail plans with
Reliance Fresh has hit a roadblock with the unorganised sector and political parties in the states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh rising tall against it. However, such protests have only given Reliance Fresh much publicity and when 4Ps B&M caught up with Raghu Pillai, President, Reliance Retail on his take on such ‘Protests’, this is what he had to boldly proclaim: “We are not doing anything illegal and neither are we manipulating any social norm. So nobody can stop us from doing anything along these lines and all the protest made against us is totally baseless. In spite of the baseless allegations against us, in a time span of just 13 months we are present in 13 states and in 11 formats. People say that our presence will force the unorganised players to close shops but can anybody actually prove that? There’s room for everyone to grow and when it comes to the protest from kirana stores, I couldn’t recall even a single local unorganised shop being shut because we were operating in that particular state. However, now we are also focusing on collaboration with other people involved in the supply chain like the farmers. But that’s not because of the protest, rather it’s a part of our growth strategy. As the country’s socio-economic state improves, there’s bound to be many changes in India. And what is good for consumerism will ultimately happen. Nobody can stop it, whether in the name of social awareness or in the name of protecting unorganised players. No protest will work against us or stop us from growing.”
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
The senior Ambani’s titanic retail plans with
Reliance Fresh has hit a roadblock with the unorganised sector and political parties in the states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh rising tall against it. However, such protests have only given Reliance Fresh much publicity and when 4Ps B&M caught up with Raghu Pillai, President, Reliance Retail on his take on such ‘Protests’, this is what he had to boldly proclaim: “We are not doing anything illegal and neither are we manipulating any social norm. So nobody can stop us from doing anything along these lines and all the protest made against us is totally baseless. In spite of the baseless allegations against us, in a time span of just 13 months we are present in 13 states and in 11 formats. People say that our presence will force the unorganised players to close shops but can anybody actually prove that? There’s room for everyone to grow and when it comes to the protest from kirana stores, I couldn’t recall even a single local unorganised shop being shut because we were operating in that particular state. However, now we are also focusing on collaboration with other people involved in the supply chain like the farmers. But that’s not because of the protest, rather it’s a part of our growth strategy. As the country’s socio-economic state improves, there’s bound to be many changes in India. And what is good for consumerism will ultimately happen. Nobody can stop it, whether in the name of social awareness or in the name of protecting unorganised players. No protest will work against us or stop us from growing.”For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
