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Patna,(BiharTimes): Only the other day the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was quoted in the media as saying: “If FDI comes in infrastructure, it is all right but not in agriculture. They want our markets. Why should we let them have it? Shiny markets won’t help farmers. We won’t allow this in Bihar.”
But Bihar is about to sign with global consultancy firm Ernst & Young to attract private retailers to buy directly from farmers.
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Reports said that Odisha has been the first to do so. Siddhartha Das, Executive Director, Ernst and Young was recently quoted in the NDTV as saying: “When we came in, we saw there is a gap between the farmer and the big Indian retail chains, Future Group, for example. How to get the farmers and the Future Group together was the big question.”
Now he said Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are coming on board by the end of this year. These states argue that they have no problem with Indian retailers like Reliance or Big Bazaar. But when it comes to Wal-Mart or Carrefour they are out to oppose it. Their plea is that the size of the global retailer is huge.
The ruling party or coalition in Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh took part in the Sep 20 Bharat Bandh to protest against the Centre’s move to allow FDI in multi-brand retail sector.
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