No plan to revisit FDI in retail policy: India Govt

New Delhi, Dec 1 (PTI) Ruling out any roll-back of the policy to allow foreign investment in multi-brand retail in the country, the Indian government Thursday said it would issue the guidelines for investment in the sector in due course. "The rules will be framed which answer the issues raised and decisions taken in the Cabinet," Secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) P K Chaudhery told reporters here. Asked whether the government will again invite public comments before formulating and announcing the rules governing the FDI policy, Chaudhery said there was no such move. "If my answer to you was yes, that means I am conceding that we will revisit the policy. No," he said. Chaudhery said his department did not write directly to the various state governments in India while the policy was being formulated. He said the states were consulted when the issue was debated by the Standing Committee of Parliament attached to the Commerce Ministry. In addition, the proposal in the form of a discussion paper was on its official website and the states were free to respond, he said. 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and removal of the 51 per cent cap in single-brand retail were approved by the Indian Cabinet on November 24. "Guidelines on FDI in multi-brand retail are not to be put on hold.... (It is) work in progress," Chaudhery said without indicating any time frame. The government's decision to permit FDI in multi-brand retail has created political turmoil, disrupting functioning of Parliament and leading to traders' protests. PTI