Foreign investors must work within policy: FM

Asserting that foreign investors always ask for more, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said genuine investor must work within the current policy on multi-brand retailing and they must take it as it is.

"We have a policy. Genuine investor must work within that policy. It may not be the ideal policy from his point of view. But this is the policy that we have today. You have to take it as it is," Chidambaram told a Washington audience.

"I am confident that one or two multi-brand retailers will enter India, before the financial year is out. I think, one is just at the door step," Chidambaram said, without naming them.

Responding to a question on multi-brand retail, he said foreign investors always ask for more. "We have a policy. May not be an ideal policy from the point of view of foreign investor. It may not meet all their requirements. But this is the policy that we have been able to make," the minister said.

Based on the feedback received, he said the government has tried to remove as many glitches as possible. "We clarified a number of issues. We went back to the Cabinet and ask cabinet to approve them and the Cabinet approved them," he said.

Chidambaram said that India's principal opposition party and the government are on the same page on the need for the passing of the insurance bill. The main opposition party, he said, promised to pass it in the last session of the Parliament, but towards the end of it due to "political compulsion" they said they would get it done in the next session.

"Hopefully we will pass the insurance bill in the winter session," he said. "I think a lot of things are happening. Will happen. It is our hope that an investor would look at the practical difficulties a policy maker has in India and accept that, rather than wait for an ideal policy. There is no such thing as an ideal policy," Chidambaram said.