WASHINGTON (AP) — India defended Thursday government regulations designed to protect local businesses that have prompted U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart to hold back on opening superstores there.

Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told a Washington think tank that the rules weren’t too restrictive. He said he remained confident that one or two multi-brand retailers would enter the Indian market in the fiscal year ending March 2014. He did not name them.