CAIT National Conference To Deliberate On Defending Rs 140 Lakh Crore Retail Trade From E-Commerce Giants

 

New Delhi: The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) is conducting a National Conference on Friday (May 16) in New Delhi in a formal response to the alleged threat that e-commerce and quick-commerce companies have posed to India’s traditional retail sector.

 

The event will host more than 100 top trade leaders from different regions of the country and leading speakers, including former Union Minister SmritiIrani. According to CAIT Secretary General and Member of Parliament from ChandniChowk, Praveen Khandelwal, the conference is being held to keep India’s retail trade, which is worth over Rs 140 lakh crore, from being captured by what he calls a “conspiracy”. Participants will come from various backgrounds in the trading industry, including Swadeshi activists, MSMEs, transport organisations, consumers, women entrepreneurs, start-ups, farmers, and workers from rent-seeking and complaint-driven backgrounds, to develop ways to push back against what he calls the “malicious aims” of foreign-funded companies.

 

“The goal is to formulate a nationwide strategy to expose and resist these companies, whose business practices are not only unethical but also detrimental to Indian traders and local economies,” said Khandelwal. He emphasised that the conference will act as the launchpad for a large-scale awareness and protest campaign against such corporate encroachments. CAIT National President B.C. Bhartia echoed these concerns, highlighting how sectors like mobile accessories, FMCG, consumer durables, electronics, garments, toys, footwear, food items, and even restaurants and hotels have already suffered significant damage at the hands of e-commerce monopolies.

 

“These companies are adopting predatory pricing, deep discounting, and other unethical methods to create unfair market dominance,” Bhartia warned. “If we don’t resist now, more segments of India’s trade and industry will fall prey to their tactics.” The upcoming conference, which CAIT describes as a “decisive step”, will not only focus on raising awareness but also on drafting concrete measures for legal, political, and grassroots-level resistance.