No question of BJP allowing state govt to have discretion on FDI in multi-brand retail: Yashwant Sinha

BJP leader Yashwant Sinha has said there is no question of his party allowing state governments to chose whether they could allow foreign direct investment in the retail sector if it came to power.

"The BJP manifesto has only reiterated the party stand that an NDA government at the Centre will not allow FDI in multi-brand retail. If the Centre itself does not allow it, there is no question then of states exercising the choice of allowing or disallowing FDI in this sector, " Sinha told ET.

Sinha said categorically that a BJP-led dispensation will not permit FDI in multi-brand retail.

"Everyone is aware of the fact that we were not in favour of multi-brand retail," he said, adding that he had personally advised multinational companies to wait till the elections before investing.

Sinha blamed the Congress for creating confusion by allowing state governments to have the discretion of allowing or not allowing FDI in multi-brand retail.

"The framework for FDI in multi-brand retail was flawed from the beginning for the simple reason that the Congress-led UPA government left it to the state governments to decide whether to allow foreign investment in this sector or not. We had said even then that this will create uncertainty in the minds of the investors as one state government may allow FDI in multibrand retail while a subsequent government may disallow it," Sinha said.