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97. Arvind Kejriwal pulls the
plug on FDI in retail stores in Delhi
All India | Reported by
Sonal Mehrotra (with agencies) | Updated:
January 13, 2014 20:44 IST
Arvind Kejriwal pulls the
plug on FDI in retail stores in Delhi
New Delhi:
Arvind Kejriwal has come good on another
pre-election promise. His government in Delhi
has withdrawn permission for multi-brand retail
stores that would be owned by large
international super-chains.
In his campaign ahead of
the recent elections, Mr Kejriwal had said that
his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) does not agree with
the Centre's decision to allow Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) in the vast retail sector,
enabling foreign firms to buy majority stake in
Indian firms and sell directly to customers.
The Chief Minister said
today he was not opposed to FDI, but it had to
be decided on a sector to sector basis.
"FDI provides a wide range
of choice to consumers but it has been seen in
several countries that it has let to
unemployment. There is a huge unemployment
problem in Delhi, we don't want to increase it
further," he explained, adding that he would
soon meet with industrialists to discuss further
changes needed in policy.
In 2012, Dr Manmohan Singh
decided, despite opposition from some of his
allies, to allow FDI in retail. Mamata Banerjee
and her party, the Trinamool Congress, exited
his coalition, reducing his government to a
minority.
Critics say allowing
foreign players into the $450 billion retail
sector will destroy the livelihoods of millions
of small store owners. The union government says
the move will bring down waste and costs in a
country where one-third of fresh produce rots
and food inflation is a persistent worry.
The Centre stressed that it
is up to state governments to decide whether to
implement the economic reform.
The Congress government in
Delhi, which was headed by Mr Kejriwal's
predecessor Sheila Dikshit, had allowed the
policy.
Mr Kejriwal has written to
the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, saying
that his government, which was sworn in last
month, does not support the liberalization of
the retail sector for the capital.
Story First Published:
January 13, 2014 16:32 IST |