Defending the Government’s decision on foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail trade, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said the Centre will not arbitrarily reverse the decision.
“It is the elected Government’s prerogative to make policies. The decision on retail cannot be reversed,” he told reporters here.
Last week, the Government had notified 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail paving way for players like Carrefour and Walmart to enter India, despite vociferous protest from allies and the Opposition.
Sticking to its stance that the opening of retail sector will come with strict riders, the Minister said that foreign retailers will have to mandatorily go through Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) scrutiny.
The Government has time and again said that opening up of the retail sector will improve the farm-to-fork efficiency besides building back-end infrastructure, like cold chain. The move, they say, will eliminate middle men and also help in taming inflation.
However Opposition has been up in arms saying that move will jeopardise the livelihood of smaller shopkeepers.
“BJP is trying to scare away foreign investors,” he said, adding that it was the NDA that had given its concurrence to bring foreign retailers to India.