News: The Ministry of Home Affairs has withdrawn the order for only Indian products or “swadeshi” products to be sold through the Central Armed Police Forces canteens.
Here are five components of the story:
- In keeping with the plan for “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”, the MHA had issued an order for only “swadeshi” products to be sold in CAPF canteens from June 1.
- In a circular dated May 20, this order was withdrawn, a move that comes as a relief to FMCG companies.
- Around 2-3% of FMCG sales are accounted for by CAPF canteens, so the withdrawal of this order is a positive move for FMCG companies like Hindustan Unilever and PepsiCo.
- The order was withdrawn due to the uncertainty it caused, specifically around the delimitations of the term “swadeshi” and the fate of pending orders. The CAPF canteens had nearly stopped all operations due to the uncertainty this had caused.
- There have also been possibilities of panic-selling and back-loading of unsold stocks due to fears of uncertainty, fears which hopefully will be eased by the withdrawal of this order
