Trinamool Congress hails government's decision to suspend FDI in retail

New Delhi, Dec 7 (ANI): Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday hailed the government's decision to suspend Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail until a consensus could be reached amongst all political parties and state chief ministers.

Soon after an all-party meet held to discuss the issue, TMC lawmaker Sudip Bandopadhyaya expressed his pleasure on the outcome.

"I am very happy to see that all political parties swiftly accepted the statement made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. This statement had already come during Mukherjee's earlier meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Today only the government's statement has been released during the All-party meeting.

He further said stakeholders with chief ministers of different states also would be involved in reaching consensus.

Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta lauded the 'democratic forces' that had fought for the cause.

"He (Pranab Mukherjee) clarified that stakeholders includes state governments and also political parties which means government will consult all the stake holders, not consult but reach a consensus with everybody including the political parties. Therefore it is a virtual roll back. I compliment the decision, the government for taking a belated decision. But we compliment the people of India; we compliment the democratic forces who have been fighting for the cause," said Dasgupta.

The Central government had on November 24 approved 51 percent FDI in the supermarket sector, paving the entry of firms such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour into one of the world's largest untapped markets.

The new policy, seen as one of the most important government economic reforms in years, may commit supermarkets to strict local sourcing requirements and minimum investment levels aimed at protecting jobs.

The opposition to the policy had been sparked off by fears of potential job losses among small traders that could heighten popular anger at the ruling Congress party ahead of key state polls next year that will set the stage for the 2014 general election. (ANI)