FDI issue: Pranab to brief Congress MPs on Wed

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will address a meeting of Congress Parliamentary Party on Wednesday in the backdrop of the move to put on hold the decision allowing FDI in multi-brand retail.

This will be Mukherjee's second briefing to the CPP during the current session of Parliament which has remained paralysed on the FDI and several other issues since it began on November 22.

Mukherjee, who is the Leader of the Lok Sabha, has already told opposition leaders that the decision on allowing FDI in retail was being put on hold and a final decision will be taken only after consulting all opposition parties, sources said.

Mukherjee had earlier told Congress MPs that FDI in retail was one of the measures that could help bring down prices by checking the huge differences between the farm-gate prices of products and their wholesale and retail prices.

In the one-hour long briefing, Mukherjee had apprised the party members in detail about the steps taken by the government to check the outflow of blackmoney to tax havens abroad.

Meanwhile, Congress has issued a three-line whip to its members in Lok Sabha asking them to be present during proceedings on December 7 and 8.

Parliament sources said this has been done not for any particular issue but keeping in view the possibility of some "important business".