Top Ministers At RSS Mediation Session For New Foreign Investment (FDI) Rules

New Delhi: A month after India announced monumental changes to foreign direct investment (FDI) rules, aggressive pushback has emanated not just from opposition parties, but from trade unions linked to the ruling BJP.

In a sign of how perilous that could prove, ministers including Nirmala Sitaraman, Piyush Goyal and Kalraj Mishra met today with representatives of the unions, in a mediation session called by the BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS.

Trade unions like the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, which functions as the labour wing of the RSS, say the new policies will kill local and small businesses and erase thousands of jobs.

The RSS is worried that unless a breakthrough is achieved, its own unions will side with opposition parties in demonstrations against the new policies that were announced in June and described by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as enables for turning India into "the most open economy in the world for FDI."

Among the objections of right-wing unions is the 100 per cent FDI that is now allowed under the government approval route for trading, including through e-commerce, of food products made in India.

Some RSS unions are also deeply critical of the 100% FDI introduced for defence, claiming that the new norms will endanger national security, an accusation also levelled by the Left, which is holding protests across the country against the new investment policies.

The reforms were introduced just two days after Raghuram Rajan, darling of foreign investors, made the surprise announcement that he would not seek a second term. The opposition Congress said the government revealed its new policies to prevent the markets from crashing over Mr Rajan's exit, a claim denied by the centre.