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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Trinamul to stall retail FDI plan
-The Telegraph
 
The Trinamul Congress will oppose foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail and pension funds as well as changes in rules that will allow foreign airlines to invest in Indian carriers.

Mamata Banerjee has instructed her sole member of the cabinet — railway minister Dinesh Trivedi — to oppose the retail proposal at tomorrow’s cabinet meeting, the minister confirmed today.

The Trinamul roadblock is being seen as an attempt to reaffirm its commitment to “pro-poor” policies and also to send a signal to the Centre to expedite plans to recast the state’s debt repayment schedule.

The finance ministry had appointed a committee to look into the possibility of restructuring the liabilities of three “most debt-stressed states”: Bengal, Kerala and Punjab. The process of debt recast is expected to take several months to be finalised but Mamata would like this to be speeded up.

The cabinet hurdle comes at a time Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee are considering a series of reforms to answer critics who have been speaking of a “policy paralysis”. Six days ago, the UPA government had given its formal nod to 26 per cent FDI in pensions.

The Union cabinet was set to consider allowing 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand and 100 per cent in single-brand retail, though with stringent conditions. However, the measure is unlikely to be cleared without Trinamul’s consent.

Some Congress sources interpreted it as a “blessing in hiding”. They said the party did not wish to take a decision that could have made it unpopular ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections next year.

The government wants to allow multi-brand retail chains such as Walmart and Tesco to enter any city with a population of more than 1 million.

Uttar Pradesh alone has some seven cities with a million-plus population. Any relaxation of FDI rules is certain to be seized by the Opposition to claim that it would hurt tens of thousands of small retailers in these cities.

India annually loses more than Rs 1 lakh crore in agri-products, including fruits and vegetables, because of lack of proper infrastructure like cold chain storage and warehousing. The entry of big retail chains is expected to address these problems to some extent.

Allowing foreign airlines to invest in Indian carriers was a measure that was slated to come up before the cabinet within the next week or so. Air India unions are believed to have reasoned with the Trinamul leadership that the move could be used by the government to ultimately sell the airline to foreign carriers.

Mamata, who is in Delhi now, told CNN-IBN that she would continue to oppose all “anti-people measures” and described the Congress as a “small party in Bengal”.

“If the government is for the aam insaan (Congress calls it aam aadmi or common man’s government), then it should take care of the aam insaan first”, she said, referring to a proposal pending with the government to increase LPG prices.

Asked particularly about FDI in retail, Mamata opposed it and added that she was against pension reforms. “I don’t support FDI in retail and also pension reforms. I have reservations. One employee in his whole life keeps gratuity and pension and he should not be harmed,” she said.

On FDI in retail, she took up the cause of farmers and said first the government must protect the farmers by ensuring a proper price for their produce and then go for foreign funds. “I cannot snatch the bread and butter of my farmers,” she said.

She made her unhappiness with the UPA government known by refraining from answering a question unequivocally. In reply to a specific question “are you comfortable with the UPA as you were with the NDA? Are you disappointed?” Mamata remained silent for a while and said: “Ours is a natural relation. I don’t want to comment over it.”

Party leaders said that by not scheduling a formal meeting with any senior Congress leader during her current trip to Delhi, Mamata wanted to show she was upset with the partner.

Responding to questions over her relationship with the Congress in Bengal, she used words like “national, international” for the party but added it had very little strength in the state. “The Congress is a small party in Bengal. They might be having the phobia of being a national and international party,” she said.

However, asked if she would pull out of the UPA as she had threatened, Mamata said: “I don’t want to say anything that will harm this government.”

In Parliament, Sonia Gandhi had a chance encounter with Sudip Bandopadhyay and while congratulating him for getting elected as Lok Sabha leader of his party, she asked: “How is Mamataji?”