Dramatic Changes In India's Vast Retail Market

"HyperCity, India's first western-style supermarket [has] bright, shiny 120,000 sq ft of shelves, aisles and electronic checkouts are familiar to anyone in the west. But they are alien to generations brought up on dingy, family-run grocers' shops and pungent food markets where prices are haggled over...HyperCity, the result of two years' planning, is the first concrete sign that the geography of India's high street is on the brink of dramatic change.

..At present, western companies can do little but wait, visit and watch. Under Indian law, no foreign direct investment is allowed in the retail sector...

The retail market potential is vast. India has the world's second-largest population and consumer market after China. Analysts say Delhi is following a similar trajectory - albeit somewhat more slowly - to that taken by Beijing...

While China's ruling communists have opened the doors to foreign companies, India's left argues that multinational corporations will quickly establish a monopoly and force family businesses to close.