New Delhi, March 25: The government is yet to take a decision on opening up multi-brand retailing to foreign direct investment (FDI), Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha Friday.
Replying to a calling attention motion from Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Nishikant Dubey, Mukherjee said there was no such recommendation or proposal made to the government for liberalising FDI in the multi-brand retailing sector.
“There is no recommendation for FDI in multi-brand trading. Government has not taken any decision on this,” he said.
“I am repeating…government has not taken any view on it at all because the issue is complex,” he added.
Referring to the Economic Survey that the government presented in parliament last month, Mukherjee said the beauty of the report lay in the freedom given to the analysts “not to jaundice” their analysis on the basis of the official view of the government.
“The analysts have been asked to apply their mind. Though the stated policy of the government may be something, the economic survey may vary from it,” he added.
-Agencies