Friday, December 23, 2011

Govt has not shelved FDI in retail: Pranab

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today made it clear that the government has not shelved its plans of bringing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail. We could not bring FDI in retail in this winter session, that does not mean that we have shelved it, Pranab said.
After pressure from West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, other allies and the Opposition, the government had put a hold on bringing FDI in retail during the winter session of Parliament.
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However, Pranab said the government will bring FDI in retail once there is consensus on it. 'In a multi-party government setup, we need to bring consensus, which takes time. We are working hard to reach consensus on this, the moment we are able to bring consensus, we will come up with it,' Pranab said. The Finance Minister says the government is trying to reach consensus on FDI in retail.
Pranab also requested the industry leaders not to criticise the government's policies. 'All major economies have received a shock because of the overall economic slow down and fragile economic recovery of developed countries. I request all industry heads that if we have problems, it is for us to solve the problem, merely reiterating the problem will not solve the problem,' he said.
Talking about India's growth story, Pranab said, 'The situation is difficult but we have the capacity and resilience to overcome this difficulty collectively. We need to make the development process intrusive and need to improve the reach of development.'
The Finance Minister also stressed on the capabilities of young entrepreneurs to take up challenges. 'The young entrepreneurs of India do not carry any baggage of the past, they are confident of themselves and do not need any government concessions and are ready to take up challenges,' Pranab said.
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