Never ending FDI debate
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 13 2012 -

The seemingly never ending debate over the decision of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government to open up 51 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retailing sector has been going on like a double-edged sword.

Even though the protest and demand of the Opposition and some allies of UPA for rollback of the decision has fizzled out in the ultimate 'farcical voting exercise' in the Parliament, nonetheless, the path ahead still appears to be all uphill for the UPA Government in translating the go-ahead vote it managed to garner from an extremely unpredictable Parliament.

After the recent disclosure by Walmart, an American multinational retailer corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores, to the US Senate that since 2008 it has spent about $ 25 million on lobbying US Government officials for improved access to retail markets around the world including India.

Out of this amount, Walmart is said to have spent $ 3 million during the current year itself in lobbying for entry into Indian market.

Although Walmart has denied any wrongdoing and contended that the 'disclosure report' to the US Senate was just a record of expenses spent on lobbying exclusively in the US as required by law of that country and it has nothing to do with political or government contacts with India Government officials, the furore over its disclosure has only triggered yet another around of debate on the issuing of lobbying in India.

Now that UPA Government has bowed down to the pressure of the Opposition parties and agreed to appoint a retired judge to investigate into the lobbying activities of Walmart, we have to wait and see whether the judicial inquiry would be able to defuse the controversy centering around the issue or shed some new lights on the issue of lobbying in India.

The inconvenient truth is that we all know that nothing really works in India without lobbying. Moreover, unlike in US where they have US Lobbying Disclosure Act, India still needs to adopt at least some regulations to grapple with the issue of corporate lobbying in domestic policy making or corporate supporter for political parties, which are becoming unnecessary evils but undeniable facts of life.

Perhaps, Walmart knows the mindset of Indian officials better that anyone else and thus, it has made proper use of the situation where everything has a price tag and is up for sale to the highest bidder.

Jokes apart, the fact remains that lobbying is an illegal activity that needs to be curbed.

And to set an example, a thorough probe into the dealings of Walmart in trying to gain entry into the highly lucrative Indian retail market is essential for finding out to whom the amount have been given and who are the beneficiaries.

But then, one nagging thought that remains on the mind of the people is why some of the politicians who were very vocal against FDI but played truant at the time of voting down in Parliament are making a hue and cry now.

Is it because the bribe had been taken but they did not get their share?