FDI in supermarket sector still a priority: Pranab

Government's plan to give foreign supermarkets access to the country's retail industry is still a priority and has not been shelved, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said today, weeks after the government was forced to backtrack on the reform.

Government's plan to give foreign supermarkets access to the country's retail industry is still a priority and has not been shelved, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday, weeks after the government was forced to backtrack on the reform.

Mukherjee said the delayed policy was "very much on the government's mind" and officials were now working for a consensus on foreign direct investment plans including in supermarkets and a delayed pensions bill.

Struggling with a rapidly weakening rupee and a growing current account deficit, India is looking for new ways to attract foreign investors to Asia's third largest economy.