MNCs will stay, says Joshi

Your allies such as George Fernandes are talking of driving out certain MNCs. What will the policy of the new BJP government be towards MNCs like Pepsi and Coke?

We broadly believe that MNCs are not welcome in areas such as consumer goods. But, if they are already in India, there is no question of driving them out. We will examine the issue of their expansion, but this will be guided by the law of the land.

Fernandes, for example, has spoken of examining the export commitments of all MNCs and penalising them for violations.

Whyjust talk of MNCs — export obligations and violations of all companies should be examined. The point is that if MNCs like Pepsi have not violated any existing laws, they have nothing to be scared of.

How will you actually implement your `swadeshi‘ agenda?

The previous governments, for example, have lowered import duties in several areas such as steel and paper, to even below what we have committed to in the WTO. That is, we have committed to reduce duties to a certain level by the turn of the century, but the UF has reduced them to below this in the year 1997-98. We can rationalise these duties, without reneging on our obligations to the WTO. That will give a measure of protection to local industry.

How will you get banks to lend more to small-scale units, and at concessional rates?

We will ask them to examine all SSI proposals on merit — previous governments asked banks not to lend to SSIs and not to consider their loan applications favourably.

That doesn’t appear true.But, even if you’re right, what happens if banks say that the SSIs are unviable, and that they will not lend to them?

We’ll deal with the issue when we form the government. We’ll formulate some guidelines on the matter.