We aren't afraid of retail giants, says Kerala minister

Kerala's unique civil supplies networking is strong enough to challenge any multinational retail giants and the state is not afraid of Walmart or Reliance, Kerala's Civil Supplies Minister C. Diwakaran have quoted.

"We have 14,000 ration shops and 2,500 Supplyco (civil supplies outlets) across the state. I do not think any other small state in the world has such a wide networking. So, we do not have any threats from any retail giants," said Diwakaran, who was in the capital to seek an increase in its allocation of food grain, kerosene and cooking gas to distribute through the public distribution system (PDS).

According to him, the state's supplyco outlets or its supermarket networking have not been affected by the numerous national and multinational retailers that have opened up showrooms in the state.The state's ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and its allies have been protesting against the entry of multinational retail giants, saying it would kill the small-scale retail industry in the country.