Battle lines have been drawn between the Government and the Opposition on foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.
Round one started on Tuesday with the debate in the Lok Sabha. The Opposition moved two motions — one against FDI in retail and the other to amend the Foreign Exchange Management Act Rules — to corner the Government. The Lok Sabha will vote on the Opposition’s motions on Wednesday after further debate.
‘No efforts at consensus’
Initiating the debate, the Opposition leader, Sushma Swaraj said the Government made no efforts to build consensus among various stakeholders on implementing the policy. She said there is no basis for the Government’s claims that FDI in retail will help consumers, farmers and generate more jobs.
She said retail giants such as Walmart have used “predatory pricing” to attract consumers and destroy the unorganised retail sector in various countries, including the US.
“Examples show that if it becomes a monopolistic market, interests of consumers will be harmed,” she said. Swaraj said the claim that foreign retailers will protect the interests of Indian farmers is also wrong.
She stressed that “80 per cent of the products will be purchased from China. Indian farmers and small and medium scale industries will face a major crisis if FDI in retail was allowed.”
The Opposition leader added that the argument that Walmart’s entry will result in employment generation was also wrong. Taking on the Commerce Minister Anand Sharma’s claim that the FDI in retail will generate four million jobs, she said Walmart has now been able to employ just 2.1 million people so far. In fact, 36,000 retail stores have to be opened in the country to give jobs for four million people, she added. She also expressed concern at the reports that Walmart had paid bribes in India to push the FDI retail policy.
The SP, BSP, CPI (M), Trinamool Congress and the UPA’s ally DMK also opposed FDI in retail, isolating the Congress.
The SP and BSP did not make their stand clear on voting, while the DMK said that it will not vote against the Centre. Earlier, the Opposition objected to the decision to discuss both the motion against FDI retail and the statutory motion to amend the Foreign Exchange Management Act Rules together.
The Government said there is no compulsion on any State to implement the Centre’s policy.
The Telecom Minister, Kapil Sibal, said the retail stores will be allowed in cities with population of one million or more.
“There are 53 cities with population of one million or more. After the discussions with various States, we understand that the policy could be implemented in just 18 cities,” Sibal said and asked the Opposition why they wanted to obstruct States which want to implement the policy.
PTI reports : McDonald’s refuted Swaraj’s remarks in that the company does not buy local produce, saying all the ingredients used in its products in India are sourced from within the country.