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Let politics not block valuable foreign equity retail: Pranab
Friday December 02, 2011 11:29:47 AM,
IANS
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New Delhi: Famers and
consumers will be the casualties if foreign equity in retail trade
is blocked due to narrow political gains, Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee said Friday, calling for a debate at the right forum
rather than confrontation.
Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, the
finance minister said global experience showed how organised
retail, with integrated supply chains, cuts post-harvest wastage
and gets remunerative returns to farmers and competitive prices to
the consumer.
"But that needs appropriate technology and investment in a large
scale," he said.
"Yet, despite this recognition, often narrow political gains take
precedence over early implementation of a policy framework, even
when it is being done in a calibrated and sensitive manner,"
Mukherjee said, referring to opposition over foreign retailers.
According to him, such policies were needed for an emerging
economy like India to ensure improvement in efficiencies to
vigorously pursue and sustain high growth that can also be
equitable across states and between urban and rural areas.
"But in the absence of timely action or no action at all, it is
the farmer and consumer who will suffer, as the nation would miss
out on an opportunity."
Opposition parties have stalled functioning of parliament ever
since the federal cabinet, in a meeting presided over by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, approved up to 51 percent foreign equity
in multi-brand retail and 100 percent in single brand format.
Even some allies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) such as
West Bengal Chif Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress
and former Tamil Nadu chief minister's M. Karunanidhi's DMK have
opposed the move.
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