US Lobby working for Walmart...

Wal-Mart vice chairman Michael Duke is not alone in his fight to enter India, he is being backed by influential US policy think tank, the council on foreign relations that has come out strongly in support of Wal-Mart's entry into India.

"In America these large retailers have greatly helped in increasing the standard of living by all kinds of supply chains and highly efficient methods, which reduce the cost to consumer that in turn increases the standard of living," said Peter Peterson, Founder Chairman, Blackstone Group and Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations.

"So both at the farm level and the retail levels there are lots of restrictions to doing the very things that would be necessary to increase productivity," Peterson added.

The US council led by the founder chairman of the Blackstone group met with the Prime Minister and Finance Minister this week asking them to ease up on FDI policy in retail and agriculture.

Of course, the sole objective is also to allow large multi-brand retailers like Wal-Mart to increase efficiency and reduce prices in the economy.

Political gambles

However, that argument was lost in the halls of South Block, which is still coming to terms with setbacks in the recent elections and not willing to take on any more political gambles.

"Intellectually they are receptive but politically they are not. No one wants to take the heat by saying that we are going to put pressure on a nation of small retailers. Nobody wants the heat but they all want the benefits," said Peter Solomon, Former Vice Chairman, Lehman Brothers, Member, Council on Foreign Relations.

The status quo on the issue of FDI in retail continues with the government still offering no clarity on how it plans to move forward.

Meanwhile, lobbying efforts are intensifying with prominent US business leaders saying that even a wholesale joint venture between Wal-Mart and Bharti would be a good start.

An ideal scenario in which foreign multi brand retailers will be able to access the Indian markets on their own.