Every week, Ronnie Screwvala lunches with India's corporate head honchos in Business Bites on BBC World. Filmed in some of the best restaurants in India, the programme takes the people defining the country's economy away from the formality of a TV studio to a unique insider's look at the industries being examined.

This Sunday's edition of Business Bites, filmed at South Mumbai's lavish resto-bar 'Indigo', features two head honchos from India's retail industry, President of RPG Enterprises, Raghu Pillai, and Shoppers' Stop's CEO and MD,
B.S. Nagesh. The bigwigs discuss the competition from the unorganised retail sector, the pan-Indian retail model, restriction on Foreign Direct Investment and the prevailing tax structures in the retail industry.

On organised v/s unorganised retail Raghu Pillai reasoned, "We started a lot later than the other countries like China, the US and those in Europe. There is not enough investment and not enough players in the retail space. Just 3-4 players is not going to make an organised retail industry in India." He also felt that the belief that organised retail could not deliver cheap prices like the local shopkeeper, was actually a myth. "Organised retail offers ambience, and value for money, which is not comparable to the unorganised sector."

B.S. Nagesh commented, "Apart from late starters, the supply chain was in the small scale industry. India has always been a nation of shopkeepers. Although organised retail is not widespread, we have 12 million retailers in the country. So we have retail flowing all over the place. The small players are growing because the market is growing." He added, "I think it is the opportunity which exists, where the consumer is growing and wanting more and more. I think it is our ability to put things right for the consumer and bring in organised retail."