India's government will put on hold plans to open up its retail industry to foreign supermarkets until it gets the support of its coalition, the leader of the ruling Congress party's biggest ally said on Saturday, according to Reuters. Mamata Banerjee, who is against the policy and whose Trinamool Congress party brings 19 votes to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's ruling Congress party-led coalition, said that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had told her that the policy would be put on hold. India's government last week announced the decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the supermarket sector, allowing global giants companies into India's $450 billion retail market.
