Harsimrat Kaur again bats for FDI in multi-brand retail in food
16 February, Mumbai
Union Ministry of Food Processing Industry has favoured opening up of FDI in multi-brand retail in food articles that are indigenously sourced, said Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today.This is at least the second time in as many months when the minister has pitched for the FDI in the food sector.
Speaking at a sectoral seminar on Opportunities in the Food Processing Sector at the Make In India Week at the Bandra-Kurla Complex here, Ms Badal said she has already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail only for such food that is produced in India by the Indian farmers and food products that are manufactured by the manufacturers in India.
The FPI minister signalled that government wants all stakeholders on board before announcement of this change in policy.Recently, Delhi based think tank Indian Council of Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) had brought a paper in favour of FDI in multi-brand retail of food and grocery. It opined that since the Indians prefer to buy food from local markets and push carts, the FDI in this sector would not harm the local vendors.Advocating for a comprehensive Food Policy, Ms Badal said FDI would be a major step towards modernising of old ‘kirana’ (grocery) stores into modern food retail and providing fair remuneration to farmers.
Assuring investors of a hassle-free mechanism, Ms Badal said the present government was fully committed to providing an environment that is smooth, transparent and easy for investors wanting to start an enterprise in India. She declared that regulatory mechanism in India was moving from licence regime to registration regime for seamless hassle-free production of food products and in line with this, thousands of new ingredient standards have been notified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).”We are committed to new and established investors and cannot let the legacy of inspector raj affect growth of food processing industry,” Ms Kaur asserted.
The minister also said she has requested for a 10-year tax holiday for food processing units located in the Mega Food Parks.Highlighting the achievements in the food processing sector, she informed that while in 2008-2014 period, only two mega food parks were implemented, the present government has already operationalised five more mega food parks and in the next 30 months, all the mega food parks will be operationalised, she added.