FDI decision faces flak in Houses

Allies and partners of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government today opposed the hike in foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in insurance, telecom and civil aviation proposed in Budget 2004-05.

They included the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The controversial proposal was also opposed by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati.

As discussions on the general Budget resumed on Tuesday, CPI's PK Vasudevan Nair said the Finance Minister P Chidambaram's decision to include the FDI proposals in his Budget was unwise. Chidambarm is expected to reply on the issues tomorrow.

In the Rajya Sabha, Mayawati opposed the proposed hike in FDI limits in civil aviation, telecommunication and insurance. She, however, welcomed the increase in budgetary allocation for defence.

The BSP chief also demanded a 21 per cent share of the budgetary allocation for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes.

Devendra Prasad Yadav of the RJD also criticised the government's plan to raise FDI limits and sought a reconsideration. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, he claimed that the increase would lead to a flight of capital and urged the government to check it.

Speaking on behalf of the Congress, Jyotiraditya Scindia supported the stress given to agriculture and irrigation in the Budget.

He claimed that these were necessary to achieve an 8 per cent growth rate in GDP. He asserted that fair targets has been set in the Budget, and welcomed the focus on recharging water bodies.

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda criticised both the Congress and the NDA for denying a fair deal to farmers who, he said, are subjected to pay penal interest on farm loans.

The Janata Dal (Secular) member said as many as 172 farmers have committed suicide after the Congress government came to power in Andhra Pradesh.