NEW DELHI: In a latest development on the Union Cabinet's agreement to allow 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, the country's Finance Minster, Pranab Mukherjee has told oppostion leaders including Sushma Swaraj that FDI in retail has been put on hold, PTI sources said.
According to sources, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee called BJP leader Sushma Swaraj and offered her this compromise. He will make the formal announcement on this in Parliament when it reconvenes after its long weekend on Wednesday.
Congress' powerful regional ally, Trinamool Congress had also been exercising a national veto to get the Centre to put the decision to allow 51% FDI in retail trading on hold.
The Congress leadership, which does not want the retail issue to come in the way of its political plans for poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, is in no mood for a confrontation with the alliance partners. This came through in the response of Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi to the plans to suspend the decision.
He said the Congress welcomed every attempt to break parliamentary logjam and described Mamata Banerjee as a valuable ally of his party. But the perception of the centre of gravity shifting to the bases of allies is not good news for the prime minister, who has been citing retail decision as a key element of the policy matrix that he wants to establish.
It may be recalled that Singh had said that it was a "well considered" decision. India Inc leaders on Sunday attempted to drive home the same point. "Opposing investment in modern retail for the sake of it is only defending vested interests to the detriment of the vast majority," a joint statement issued by HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh and former Unilever chief Ashok Ganguly said.
"Democracy encourages openness and permits and dissent, but perennial disarray and disruption is sacrilegious," they said.
Shares in Indian retail firms fell on Monday by as much as 10%. Shares in Pantaloon, whose Big Bazaar supermarket chain is seen by sector analysts as the number one tie-up target for a foreign supermarket, fell as much as 11 percent on Monday -- giving up much of the gains made after the reforms were announced on Nov. 24.
0 comments:
Post a Comment