BJP to oppose FDI in retail tooth and nail: Joshi

The Bharatiya Janata Party will launch a nationwide protest against the UPA government's move to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, senior party leader and public accounts committee chairman Murli Manohar Joshi said on Sunday.

''If FDI in the retail sector is allowed, small traders will lose their jobs, as their products or services will not be able to compete with foreign traders. The BJP will oppose such a move in and outside Parliament,'' Joshi said at a press meet here.

''It will impact the nation's economy. The finance minister has himself said the country was able to escape the impact of the global meltdown because it had no broader connection with the global economy. Now he is contradicting his own stand by allowing FDI in the retail sector,'' he said.

The Congress-led central government may raise FDI in single-brand retail to 100 per cent from 51 per cent at present, and is also planning permitting 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail, with conditions including the purchase of at least a third of goods from local companies. A high-level committee of secretaries headed by cabinet secretary Ajit Kumar Seth recommended this in June.

The finance ministry has given its consent to it, but the decision had been delayed as several political parties had voiced the concern that it would adversely affect the small retailer.

Joshi said he had opposed the government's proposal to allow FDI in vegetable and fruit trade as the chairman of Parliament's standing committee on the subject, saying it would take away jobs of small traders and lead to a rise in unemployment.