Pranab Mukherjee woos US investors, clears the air on FDI

Chicago: On a two-day visit to the US, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today met with American investors and business leaders of the corporate world and told them that the decision on allowing 51 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail has only been put on hold for now. Mr Mukherjee also told them that this is how things sometimes work in a democracy.

The Finance Minister's trip to Chicago comes on the heels of the UPA government having to stall FDI in multi-brand retail due to opposition by some of its allies.

Mr Mukherjee was meeting American investors today to share his views on Indian and global economic conditions.

"I had an interaction with them. As Finance minister I thought it would be useful for me to convey the message of India's economic development and the current situation to them," said Mr Mukherjee.

During his visit, Mr Mukherjee will look for investments in power, infrastructure, ports and highways. The Finance Minister had visited Washington D C and New York last September to look for Foreign Institutional Investors (FII).

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With an aim to invest US $1 trillion in infrastructure for the next five year plan 2012-2017, Mr Mukherjee will also seek suitable partners for building the Indian economy.

Yesterday, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma met top bosses of retail giants Walmart and Metro at the World Economic Forum in Davos to assure them that India is committed to reforms and will move towards achieving political consensus in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail soon. Speaking to NDTV on whether the FDI in retail move was ill-timed, he said you can't go for a muhurat for taking decisions and a large number of states wanted FDI in retail but backed out due to partisan politics. (Watch)

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(With PTI Inputs)