NEW DELHI, 16 August 2007 — Indian giant Reliance Industries opened the nation’s biggest superstore yesterday and announced plans for hundreds more in what it called another step in its drive to unleash a “retail revolution.” The hypermarket in the western city of Ahmedabad — India’s biggest outlet under a single roof — is the latest format to be rolled out by Reliance which launched its $6 billion retail foray last November.

The opening on the 60th anniversary of the country’s independence “marks the achievement of another milestone in our effort to unleash a retail revolution in India,” said Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani said.

But the opening of the store, which will carry more than 95,000 products and is one of over 500 Reliance says it plans by 2010, comes amid mounting unease about the impact of big retail outlets on India’s largely unorganized “mom and pop” shopping landscape.

On Tuesday, the Confederation of All India Traders demanded a parliamentary committee “look into all issues arising out of the entry of corporate retailers into retail trade and serious objections raised by traders.” “From what we’ve seen in other countries, these big retailers have totally destabilized local retailers,” said Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary of the organization made up of 5,000 retail trade bodies.

“They’re adopting predatory pricing with the sole aim of hijacking the vast potential retail trade” estimated at around 300 billion dollars, he told AFP.

Reliance’s smaller format grocery stores called Reliance Fresh have already sparked violent protests by small vendors. They say the Reliance’s retail venture that promises “unmatched affordability” threatens their livelihoods.

Reliance’s new three-story hypermarket covers 165,000 square feet (50,000 square meters) which store officials said was about a third larger than any rival outlet.

It will sell groceries to garments and consumer durables, Reliance, which is targeting annual sales of $25 billion by 2011, says it aims to give an “international shopping experience” to consumers more used to shopping at shabby corner stores or at open air markets.

The RelianceMart hypermarket chain will be open from 10 in the morning until 10 at night seven days a week and its prices will undercut those of rivals by as much as 60 percent, a senior Reliance official said.

“They will have to add a lot of value on price and quality to compete,” said the official, who asked to remain unnamed.

Reliance, which also earlier launched a consumer electronics chain Reliance Digital, is a corporate behemoth that has straddled India’s economy for decades with activities in petrochemicals, oil and gas and refining.

The government still bans foreign firms seeking to tap India’s increasingly affluent middle class of some 300 million from selling directly to consumers.

But the companies are using a back door to enter the market by starting wholesale and sourcing firms that supply a local retail partner.

Last week Indian telecom firm Bharti Enterprises and US-based retail giant Wal-Mart announced a 50:50 joint venture for a new chain of wholesale stores in India to serve small retail shops.

The government is considering relaxing foreign retail entry rules but this is being stiffly opposed by leftist parties.

“Organized retail has the potential to trigger socio-economic transformation on an unprecedented scale in our country and will bring about enormous spin-off benefits to the Indian economy and its various constituents,” Ambani said.

The remarks in a statement were an apparent bid to silence critics who say big retailers will drive smaller ones out of business.

Reliance insists the market is big enough for all players. It says its goal is to overhaul retailing and farming, linking them through a “state of the art” distribution and transport system that will give consumers fresher food at cheaper prices and farmers bigger incomes.