The Hindu Business Line : Left parties in no mood to relent on FDI hike

THE Left parties appear be in no mood to relent on their demand for a rollback on the Budget announcement of hike in FDI in insurance, telecom and aviation, despite the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, expressing the hope of being able to convince them of the need for going ahead with the proposals.

"We hope that the Government would reconsider the whole issue," Mr Prakash Karat, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member, told Business Line.

He said that though his party was opposed to FDI hike in all the three sectors, it was particularly unhappy with the proposals on the insurance and the telecom sectors.

In his reply to the debate on the Union Budget, Mr Chidambaram had said that he would listen to the concerns of the Left parties and would try to convince them on the need for the proposed hikes.

``People say that I am under pressure from Left friends. But I have to say that I have great pleasure working with them. I will listen to them and I will convince them. Eventually, the Government has to take decisions in the best interest of the country,'' Mr Chidambaram said.

The Finance Minister had proposed during his Budget speech that FDI in insurance would be hiked to 49 per cent from 26 per cent, from 49 per cent to 74 per cent in telecom and from 40 per cent to 49 per cent in civil aviation. Senior CPI leader Mr D. Raja said that his party was strongly opposed to the FDI proposals. "We want the Government to reconsider the proposed hike in FDI."

He added that the Finance Minister's decision to avoid a direct answer on the FDI issue was indicative of the fact that he was willing to have a relook.

Mr Raja also ruled out any possibility of a trade-off between the Government and the Left parties on sectors with FDI being allowed in one and not in the other.

"What is this trade-off that people are talking about? We are not industrialists. Whatever decision we take is only in the interest of the country," he said.

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