New Delhi: Allowing foreign direct investment in retail sector will benefit farmers, and those who are opposing it are “confused”, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said today.
“Those who are opposing FDI in retail are confused, they don’t know what they are opposing about and why. FDI will establish a chain, from farms to customers, and our farmers will be benefited from it,” Singh told reporters here.
Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has opposed FDi in retail.
Supporting the UPA government’s decision to allow FDI in retail sector, Singh said even countries like China, Japan, Thailand have allowed it and already there are a number of Indian retail chains that have been doing business.
“We have made stringent provisions before allowing FDI in retail and apart from that states are free to accept it or reject it,” Singh said. Many political parties like Opposition BJP, former UPA ally Trinamool Congress and some UPA allies also have been opposing FDI in retail, saying it would hurt farmers as well as small retail shops.
PTI
