BJP to oppose banking Bill: Yashwant

Sinha defended his party’s position that when it came to power, it would reverse the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail. “We believe,” he said, “as the government has said, that this is an executive decision, and executive decisions can be reversed.” If FDI in multi-brand retail was an executive decision, why was it put to vote? “Because executive decisions can be voted on,” he said. Sinha added that the history of reforms in India has been that various decisions taken by different governments had been changed later. The NDA’s Balco residual stake sale to Anil Agarwal being turned down by the UPA is a case in point.

Though Sinha said his insurance Bill had originally wanted a 23% stake for FII/NRI/OCB in addition to 26% FDI, he said the standing committee would have to examine it afresh.

The BJP, he said, preferred a more widely-held structure in which the foreign and Indian promoters each held 26% of the equity with foreign institutional investors and the Indian public accounting for the rest. “The government has not come to us with a proposal to increase allow FIIs to hold 23%. If they do, we will consider it,” Sinha said, pointing out that when the NDA government had wanted FIIs to be allowed to invest in insurance companies, the Congress party had shot down the proposal. “The Congress told us that on

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