Narendra Modi never supported FDI in retail: BJP

AHMEDABAD: Terming as wrong the statement by Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma on Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi supporting FDI in retail, state BJP unit today said Modi has never supported it.

"The statement of Anand Sharma that Modi Government has supported FDI in retails is wrong. Chief minister Narendra Modi has made his view clear by his tweet on the subject that he is with his party in opposing FDI in retail," BJP general secretary Vijay Rupani said.

Sharma had told a television channel that Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh had supported FDI in retail.

"My stand on FDI in retail is the same as that of my party BJP and which is in the interest of the nation," Modi had tweeted on Monday last.

Rupani claimed FDI in retail will be detrimental to the interest of farmers as Sharma has himself said at his press conference that they cannot force foreign retail chains to buy some per cent of products from India only.

"The multinational retail chains will make purchases from anywhere in the world where they find the product to be cheap and sell it in our country. Our farmers will not benefit from it," Rupani said, adding that BJP is ready to discuss the issue in Parliament.