Scindia flays Piyush Goyal’s remarks on Amazon, says India desperately needs investment

Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia on Sunday termed as "unfortunate" Union minister Piyush Goyal's 'Amazon not doing any favour' remarks, and said such statements would do no good to the country as it desperately needs investments to come out of the "worrisome" economic condition.

He also said that there was a need to attract foreign investment as Indian businessmen's capacity to invest has exhausted.

"An investor as well as the country where the money is invested, both get profited...I think any comment that brings down the investment is not appropriate. It is unfortunate for us," Scindia told reporters here.

"The country desperately needs investment. Countries across the globe give a red carpet reception to investors, but in our country if such a statement is made, then it won't encourage investment," he said in response to a query about Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's statement regarding Amazon's investment into India.

"Indian businessmen's capacity to invest has exhausted. So there is a need to attract investment...Such statements won't do any good to the nation," the Congress general secretary added.

He also called for all-out efforts to accelerate the country's growth rate, to attract investment, to check inflation and to end unemployment.

"The country's condition is worrisome on these four counts right now. It seems this kind of situation did not exist in the last 25-30 years," Scindia, who was Minister of State for Commerce and Industry during the UPA-II, added.

Piyush Goyal had on Thursday said that e-commerce giant Amazon was not doing a favour to the country by investing a billion dollars and also questioned how the online retailing major could incur such "big" losses but for its predatory pricing.

He had also said that e-commerce companies have to follow Indian rules in letter and spirit and not find loopholes to make a back-door entry into multi-brand retail segment.

However, a day later, the minister had said in Ahmedabad that the country welcomes all kinds of investments that follow the "letter and spirit" of the law. He also said that some people had misconstrued his remarks by suggesting that he had said something negative about Amazon.