What suits the US, Aus may not be ideal for India: Naidu

The BJP will block any government move, either in Parliament or in any other way, aimed at facilitating FDI into the country's retail sector, senior party leader M Venkaiah Naidu said in Hyderabad on Saturday.

“The entry of FDI into retail sector will not only ruin millions of smaller kirana shops in the country but also ruin the lives of the millions of small and marginal farmers,” Naidu said while terming the Centre’s decision to allow 51 per cent FDI into multi-brand retail “suicidal”.

According to him, over 60 per cent of land holdings in the country were around 2.5-5 acres, highlighting the fact that most of these land holders were dependent on subsistence farming.

“The vegetables, pulses and other food items produced by farmers are consumed by themselves and fellow rural folk within villages. If the MNCs enter the retail business, village people also would be subjected to buy these items at the prices paid by urban consumers,” he said.

Therefore, a solution which may suit the US or Australia can not be ideal for India, Naidu argued.