Govt eco adviser wants multi- brand retail FDI to stay ● Subramanian tells TV channel this will help in infrastructure for agriculture sector
Chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian on Tuesday said he favoured retaining FDI in multibrand retail as it would help create infrastructure for agriculture. “The finance minister makes a distinction between the party’s position and the government’s position. The government’s position is that whatever we have, we are going to stick to it,” Mr Subramanian told a TV channel. He said under the policy, if the states want to use FDI in multi- brand retail they will be allowed to do it.
He noted the Economic Survey had talked of the need to create a common agriculture market. “To do so you have to create infrastructure so that a private market can flourish in agriculture. That requires a couple of things,” said Mr Subramanian. One, that the government should create infrastructure, like land for all markets. “If we can get the private sector to invest in this infrastructure... we should have the domestic private sector doing it, and may be the foreign private sector ( too),” he added.
A controversy had arisen about FDI in multibrand retail as the DIPP’s consolidated FDI press note this month had not made any change in the UPA policy of allowing FDI in multi- brand retail. Finance minister Arun Jaitley had, however, noted the BJP’s “political stand is very clear... we are not in favour ( of FDI in multi- brand retail)”.