The Hindu Business Line : New deadline needed for Doha Round: Kamal Nath

On the new industrial policy, Mr Kamal Nath said there would be fiscal incentives for setting up plants in non-urban areas to ensure an all-inclusive growth.

Hannover , April 24

The Union Minister of Commerce, Mr Kamal Nath, on Monday said here that the April 30 deadline for completing modalities on agriculture and industrial tariffs would not be met and a new deadline needs to be set for the Doha Round of negotiations.

"The April 30 deadline for completing modalities is not happening. We will have to set a new work programme," he told newspersons here on the sidelines of the Hannover Technology Fair.

Mr Kamal Nath said trade negotiators were dealing with "difficult issues" and they would have to agree on a new deadline within the next couple of weeks.

Earlier, speaking at the Indo-German Business Summit, Mr Kamal Nath said, "We are ready to have an agreement with Germany but for that we need to have an agreement with EU." He said this while replying to German industry's concerns on whether India would ignore the multilateral agreement route, since it is entering several bilateral and regional free trade agreements.

Retail FDI

He also indicated that the Government was working on a model that would open the doors for retail FDI and attend to concerns of the domestic players as well. "We are working on an alternative," he said, refusing to divulge details. The Government would take a call on the subject by next month.

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Sunday evening raised the issue of visa and work permit related problems that Indian workers are facing in Germany. Some Indian companies have faced visa and work permit problems in Germany. Employment and taxation laws also pose problems, as do some environment and labour standards. While our companies have recast operating procedures, some requirements remain onerous," he said.

However, while speaking to presspersons later, Mr Baba Kalyani, Chairman, Bharat Forge, said the company did not face any visa-related problems while operating in Germany."