Delhi BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi has said that the Government has eased norms for FDI in multi-brand retail by diluting contentious 30 per cent sourcing clause and allowing foreign chains to set up stores in cities which have population less than ten lakh. This move comes after specific lobbying by Global Retailers like Walmart and Tesco.
She further said that it is shameful that almost a year since the UPA Government allowed FDI in Multi-brand Retail there has been no significant foreign investment to speak of. It is also questionable why the Government had framed clauses in such an unthinking manner that it had to rescind them one year on at the express request of Foreign Retailers. It is surprising though that the Government has also relaxed mandatory back-end infrastructure rules as well as in the case of FDI in Retail.
Lekhi said that this was one of the biggest arguments made by the UPA to justify FDI in Retail in the first place citing the lack of Cold Supply Chain Infrastructure among other things. This flip-flop by the UPA is symptomatic of the irrational manner in which it has gone about economic policymaking. It is also clear that the UPA having been unable to arrest the slide of the Rupee all these weeks and months is now scrambling to somehow shore up the Rupee by expecting the Foreign Retailers to make big investments.
If the UPA had paid more attention to growing the Infrastructure Sector all these years and had demonstrated better stewardship of the Indian Rupee we perhaps would not be in this situation with policy flip-flops that make us look like a Banana Republic to Foreign Investors.
It would be pertinent to note that Narendra Modi, the Campaign Committee Chairman of the BJP, has repeatedly emphasized on the importance of having a Stable and Transparent Policy Regime. Our party's commitment if voted to power would be to restore Trust and Confidence in Indian Citizen and Foreign Investors with a stable and transparent policy regime without the kind of flip-flops of the UPA era.
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