Allowing foreign grocery stores into India market would lower food prices and help combat food inflation rate, currently 10%, according to India's chief economist; roughly 40% of India's fruits and vegetables rot before they are able to reach consumers

Allison Oesterle

LOS ANGELES , November 30, 2011 (Industry Intelligence) – Kaushik Basu, the chief economist of India and one of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's close advisers, told the Times newspaper that allowing foreign grocery stores into India would be one of the most effective ways to combat food inflation, which, at present, stands at nearly 10%, Reuters reported on Nov. 29.

Basu said that approximately 40% of fruit and vegetables grown in India rotted before they were able to reach consumers, primarily due to a dearth of refrigeration facilities and the poor quality of some Indian roads.

Foreign investment in the Indian food market, Basu said, would help the entire economy in addition to reducing the price of food.

Without the entry of foreign supermarkets into the Indian food market, Basu reported, millions of India’s poorest citizens will be forced to pay more for basic food staples like vegetables and rice.

The primary source of this article is Reuters, London, England, on Nov. 29, 2011.

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