The Himachal government will not implement FDI in the retail markets of the state as it will harm a large number of educated unemployed persons engaged in petty trades, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said on Friday.
In a letter written to Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma, Mr. Dhumal cleared the stand of the state government on the issue, an official release quoting him said.
A large number of educated unemployed were engaged in petty trades in Himachal and with the coming of FDI they would find difficult to ensure both ends meet, he said.
“FDI is not in the larger interest of the country”, Mr. Dhumal said and requested Mr. Sharma to take into consideration the economic status of poor and down trodden in the country.
He expressed surprise over the statement made by Mr. Sharma about the stand taken by Himachal Pradesh government on FDI in the debate in the Lok Sabha and termed the same as concocted and contrary to the facts.
Mr. Sharma had never communicated with Himachal government at any level seeking consent about implementation of FDI in the state, Mr. Dhumal said.
The state government had been repeatedly requesting him to increase import duty on apples to protect the interests of apple growers but the same had not even been acknowledged, the chief minister said.
He said it was during NDA regime that besides increasing import duty, various restrictions had been imposed upon import of apple, which benefited growers by fetching reasonable good price for their produce.
