Foreign investors not sure of investing: BJP

A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh clarified on the Union government’s decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership believes it is not sure when these multi-national companies (MNCs) will start investing in India because of the ongoing political uncertainty.

Senior BJP leaders argued that the Union government’s decision is not for the country but for some specific Congress-ruled states, which might confuse the investors because there are discrepancies in the decision.

“There are two major questions which the government should answer on FDI in multi-brand retail. Many states will have Assembly elections in the next one year, so what will have happen in states like Rajasthan and Delhi if there is a change in regime. The second is, if these MNCs open up retail outlets in Delhi, will the UP government allow them to purchase material to be sold in Delhi because the Samajwadi Party is opposing FDI. We are not sure if foreign investors will be ready to come such a situation where the Centre is formulating policies for some states and not for all,” said Yashwant Sinha, former finance minister.and senior BJP leader.

Sinha also questioned why the Congress party had changed its stand on FDI in multi-brand retail because senior Congress member Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi had called BJP “anti-national” when NDA was in power in 2003 and had discussed issue of FDI in multi-brand retail.