New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress (TMC), a key ally of the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, strongly opposed allowing
foreign direct investment (FDI) in key sectors such as retail, insurance and aviation, arguing that it would be harmful for the people of the country.
We are not in favour of
FDI in retail and all this (insurance)...and pension sectors. We are not in favour of FDI in aviation also. Always we are in favour of common people, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said.
She was speaking to reporters after meeting finance minister P. Chidambaram in the national capital.
In our election manifesto what we raised, we will stick to it... Other countries all over world are also saying if they allow FDI in retail market, then workers will die... So we are not (in favour), Banerjee said.
The UPA government has been unsuccessful in going ahead with key reform bills in Parliament mainly because of opposition from its key ally TMC.
It has not been able to go ahead with the implementation of FDI in multi brand retail even after securing cabinet approval.
Besides, the government also proposes to increase foreign investment cap in the insurance sector to 49 percent, from 26percent.
Further, it is also looking at passing the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011, which provides for private sector and foreign investment in the pension sector. In the aviation sector, the government is toying with the idea of allowing foreign airlines to pick up stakes in domestic carriers.
