Threat to manufacturers: Jaitley
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BJP senior Arun Jaitley on Saturday slammed the Centre for opening up 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail, saying this would make India a nation of “sales boys and sales girls.”
“India has not taken up any reforms in manufacturing sector. While companies from US and Europe will capture the Indian markets with cheap Chinese goods, India will become a nation of sales boys and sales girls,” he said addressing a public meeting here on Saturday evening.
The biggest danger of permitting FDI in Indian markets was not just the threat posed to retail and services sectors but the danger faced by the manufacturing sector.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said international structured retail did not create jobs but displaced existing ones.
About four crore of India’s workforce was dependent on retail sector for a livelihood and it was erroneous to say that opening up the market to foreign players would help both big corporates and local industry thrive.
The foreign retailers would source cheap, sell cheap, drive out competition and monopolise the market. “When you monopolise market, there are very few small players...a market controlled by a few people is contrary to public interest,” Mr Jaitley said.
“It is a decision for which India at least today is not prepared. And I cannot understand the compulsion. I hope the government falls on this issue so that no one repeats the mistake,” he said and added Manmohan Singh government’s decision was “ex-parte concession” to the US and European countries.
The diesel price hike demonstrated that the UPA government was “heartless with no concern for the common man”.
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