Ahead of a government meeting to review its foreign direct investment (FDI) policy on Friday, the Congress took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him not to relegate the opportunity to "photo-ops" and to take measures to boost oversea inflows.
Congress's communications department in-charge Randeep Surjewala said his party-led UPA government had taken several measure to liberalise the economy and boost investment, but Modi and the BJP had "virulently opposed" FDI in retail in 2012.
"We hope that the prime minister will move beyond rhetoric to ensure growth in the investment climate in India. We also hope the current meeting will also not be relegated to photo-ops and platitude," he said.
Surjewala said there were reports that the government had been considering relaxing FDI norms in retail and bring FDI in single-brand retail under the automatic route.
He said the Congress permitted 51 per cent FDI in multi- brand retail in metropolitan cities without hurting Indian producers, small-scale industries, and wholesale and retail trade.
But Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat then, had opposed it, he said.