Sharma against FDI in tobacco

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma today said a "responsible country" like ours should not allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the tobacco industry, especially when there is a ban on smoking in public places.

"Why should we have FDI in tobacco? There is a ban on smoking in public places. We are a responsible country," Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of an international seafood conference here.

The country should rather promote FDI in innovation, research and green technologies, he added.

On the telecom major Bharti Airtel's efforts to acquire the Kuwaiti telco Zain's African operations, Sharma said: "We welcome our corporates to step out and become multinational corporations. We support any such initiative."

To a question whether export stimulus would be continued in the forthcoming budget, Sharma said the finance minister is "sensitive" to the concerns of the export sector which is not doing well.

Although exports have shown a recovery in the past three months, some of the sectors like engineering are not out of troubles.