If the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry is to be believed, India may well allow FDI in retail in FY12. CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan spoke to Jyotiraditya Scindia earlier and began by asking him how the government plans to move ahead given that FDI inflows have come down 35% in 2010.
Scindia said he expects positive traction on FDI in retail shortly. However, he believed FDI in the defense space is a trickier issue and needs a more cautionary approach. Acknowledging the decline in FDI in recent times, Scindia said the government is worried about the situation. "The next rise in FDI will only come through a greater amount in opening up in the FDI arena." Below is a verbatim transcript of the interview. Also watch the video. Q: How concerned are you about the health of the Indian economy. If you look at the IIP numbers and one can quibble about the volatility and accuracy in the data, IIP for two consecutive months has declined significantly. How concerned is your ministry feeling at this point? A: Macro, we are quite positive on the Indian economy. Keep apart India, globally, any other economy will not see the growth rates that we will experience between 8-8.5% GDP growth rates. It is very important from a fundamental aspect to look at the barometers, that is, greater amount of investment and capital going into the economy to put in place capacity for the future. This is something which is slightly worrying at this point of time. As far as the IIP numbers are concerned, we are coming off a very high base as of last year. We donDiscover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
