BJP to strongly oppose FDI in retail sector

New Delhi: BJP today asserted that it would use all mediums of democratic protest to oppose the move to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, saying this would harm self-employed retailers. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said a Cabinet note has been circulated on allowing FDI in multi-brand retail- where “everything conceivable under the sun is available”. “BJP is completely opposed to FDI in retail sector. Our economy is dominated by the services sector which accounts for 58 percent of India’s GDP. The retail chains in India, both small and big, account for a major segment of this sector. FDI with deep pockets entering this segment will have an adverse impact on our growing domestic retail sector,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_139739” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Arun Jaitley said a Cabinet note has been circulated on allowing FDI in multi-brand retail- where “everything conceivable under the sun is available”. PTI”]  [/caption] The party maintains that self-employment in India is the single largest source of jobs with an overwhelming section of the population being self-employed. UPA-I had already allowed 51 percent FDI in single brand retail which aims at the well-off. BJP favours a fragmented market so that the consumers have a wide choice and feels consolidated markets make the consumer captive. “No one player should be allowed to dominate the market. Allowing foreign players, with deep pockets, enables such a consolidatoin. It will sweep aside competition and involve a loss of jobs, both in the manufacturing and services sector,” Jaitley said. He insisted that BJP will use all mediums of democratic protest inside and outside Parliament to oppose FDI in multi-brand retail. PTI