‘Nationalist’ BJP Govt Invites Foreign Takeover, Offers Cheap Indian Labour!

'It is ironical that the Narendra Modi government, which never tires of reminding everybody about their nationalism and patriotism, is actually following an economic policy of selling off the country’s national resources to foreign companies. It recently announced measures of easing foreign direct investment (FDI) in coal mining and associated infrastructure, contract manufacturing, single brand retail and digital media.

The easing of foreign investment in coal mining will open the way to big multinational mining conglomerates (BHP, Rio Tinto, etc.) to not only extract coal but also export it abroad, retaining the profits. It will destroy the public sector enterprise Coal India Ltd. Which could have very well done the job itself and helped the country by keeping the earnings within the country. Similarly, by allowing FDI in contract manufacturing, it will allow giant companies like Apple to use India’s cheap labour and overheads to manufacture their overpriced devices and sell them abroad at super profits. Easing FDI in single brand retail will mean global companies like Ikea (furniture maker) and H&M (clothing) will start functioning and capturing Indian markets, destroying domestic makers. Even the weak norms for local sourcing have now been removed...'

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