Planing commission favours FDI in retail

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said the panel favoured foreign direct investment in retail as it would strengthen the domestic supply chain and create more employment.

Ahluwalia, who chairs the Indo-US Economic Dialogue Forum from the Indian side, was addressing a seminar on Indo-US Economic Dialogue and Indo-US Energy Dialogue organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).

He pointed out that the working group on civil and nuclear energy would meet soon to carry forward the agenda set by the Indo-US agreement.

Ahluwalia said he saw huge scope for the private sector in captive mining and the working group would explore the scope for private investment in energy efficiency and thermal power projects. It would also try to rope in new technologies to exploit non-conventional energy.

"The Indo-US agriculture initiative is looking for ways to collaborate with the US to give a new thrust to agriculture research," he said.

He also drew upon reports of the MS Swaminathan Committee commissioned by the Planning Commission and the RA Mashelkar Committee instituted by the ministry of agriculture.

The Indo-US agriculture working group would explore ways to cope with the agriculture problems post-Doha and look into how US corporations could work together with the Indian research institutions.