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India may allow FDI in mining, retail trade
By agencies
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Tuesday, 01 March 2005, 20:30 IST
NEW DELHI:India may allow FDI in mining and retail trade despite opposition from the communist allies, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said during his budget presentation. He said India needed to learn from China in attracting FDI while giving access to MNCs in the untapped huge Indian market.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram said members of parliament to "take a pragmatic view" and see how China had greatly benefited from liberal policies on foreign capital.
Chidambaram recalled how the Chinese finance minister looked in his direction when disclosing China's foreign investment figures at a recent meeting of the G-7 countries, to which India and China also were invited.
"Our own experience has been that automobiles, software, telecommunications and electronic sectors have benefited from (foreign direct investment) and have assimilated themselves into the global production chain," Chidambaram said.
"I believe there are opportunities in other sectors as well such as mining, (retail) trade and pensions," he said. The government will "come forward with suitable proposals, and when we do I hope we can take a leaf out of the book of China."