Protests hit RIL, Walmart revenue

MOHALI: Dozens of Reliance Industries’ retail stores and a giant Walmart outlet face revenue losses of millions of dollars after being forced to shut for more than three months over protests against India’s new farm laws, people familiar with the matter said.

Thousands of farmers from states including northern Punjab have camped for weeks on the outskirts of the capital, in a bid to force Prime Minister Narendra Modi to repeal the laws they contend will benefit corporates, rather than cultivators.

Fears of farmers’ agitation in Punjab, home to many protest leaders, have stoked companies’ fears over vandalism and the safety of employees, prompting the closure of dozens of shops, store employees and industry sources said.

Since October, more than half the roughly 100 stores of top retailer Reliance Retail in Punjab and Walmart’s 50,000-sq. ft wholesale outlet in the district of Bathinda, a centre of the protests, have been shut, the people added.

“We are scared of the protesting farmers,” said a senior official of a shuttered Reliance outlet in Mohali, a prosperous city located in the farm belt.

One industry official said estimated losses for Reliance from its state-wide shutdowns run into millions of dollars. Two other officials said Walmart’s estimated revenue loss from its store, one of 29 such outlets nationwide, has crossed $8 million.

“The farmers camp outside the Walmart store daily, they don’t let anybody go in,” said one of the officials, adding that the store employed about 250 people.

Thousands of items in the store are gathering dust and have passed their use-by date.

Reliance store officials and the people, who have direct knowledge of the situation, sought anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media.

Walmart and its Indian unit, Flipkart, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reliance, India’s largest private company, also did not respond.

Both firms can absorb the losses for now, said Ankur Bisen, head of consumer and retail at consultancy Technopak Advisors, but he added, “They have to keep their fingers crossed that shutdowns do not extend to other states.”