FDI in food: Badal calls for allowing sale on non-food items

Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today pitched for permitting sale of non-food items under the recently allowed policy of 100 per cent FDI in retailing of food products produced and manufactured in India.
As per the current foreign direct investment (FDI) policy, retailing of only food products produced and manufactured in India are permitted to foreign players, who want to set up stores in India.
The statemment assumes significance as the government is considering certain relaxations in the FDI policy.
The government is considering allowing stores which would attract FDI to sell personal and home care products up to 25 per cent of their total turnover.

When asked about the matter, she said that the ministry has sent a request that a foreign investor should be allowed to keep non-food items in their stores if they invest a certain percentage in creating "farm gate infrastructure".
"Since people want some non-food items should be allowed, that is a call the Cabinet will take," she told reporters here.

Badal said the new FDI policy for food processing would positively impact the farmers.
"Since the FDI policy on processed food products announced, whichever country I have visited in last 2-3 months, every country has shown a lot of interest," she said.

"We play an important role in global market. Our food sector, which has 65 per cent share in the USD 600 billion retail market, is set to treble by 2020. Rapid urbanization, growing middle class, no country can ignore us.
"This is a growing economy while many countries have reached their peak. Every country is interested in India to invest. There is a need to talk to them as the impression due to corruption during 10 years of UPA that it is difficult to work in India," Badal said.
The minister said that the companies are requesting to help in finding local partners.

"So, we have decided to organise a global food exhibition to enable them find partnerships here. Be it processing, packaging, even with farmers, the partnerships can be forged," she said.
Asserting that the situation would change in the food processing sector, Badal said: "I have met a lot of companies abroad. We leave it to them to announce and the occasion could be the food exhibition next year. I have got commitments from people that they would invest in India".