Food Processing Minister and Member of Parliament from Bhatinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal speaks to Pratul Sharma about the upcoming Punjab polls, GST. She is focusing to set up more food parks in the country and getting FDI into the sector.
Did the Akali-BJP combine suffer a jolt as Navjot Singh Sidhu may join your opponent in Punjab?
It’s not going to make any difference either to the BJP or the Shiromani Akali Dal. The leader is welcome to go where ever he wants to. Our preparations are going well for the state assembly elections. We will be forming the government again.
Government managed to pass the GST bill in Rajya Sabha. How do you view this feat?
It was the vision of the Prime Minister. The new tax regime would improve the ease of doing business, which is going to become a reality soon. The remarkable thing about this bill was the efforts made for months to get every political party on board. Even the considerations of all the parties have been taken into account, which were earlier holding them from supporting the bill. Great efforts have been put by the Finance Minister.
How will this help?
Single taxation is going to give a boost to the economy. Taxes and inflation will remain low. People will spend less in buying essential goods.
Recently, 100 per cent FDI has been allowed in trading of food products. What is the road ahead?
I met ambassadors of various countries to tell them about the initiatives taken by the government in the retail. I also told them about the several programmes the government has started so far. This will be helpful to attract investment There are already 37 Food Parks, which are on the ground. Five more are in the pipeline.