EU FTA May Damage Farm, Steel, Pharma: CPI

The proposed Free Trade Agreement with the European Union will hurt India’s agriculture, domestic steel, pharmaceutical and automobile sectors, CPI national secretary K. Ramakrishna said on Thursday, adding that cheaper imported cars and wines would benefit only a few.

At a press conference, he said imports from the EU could rise by 107 per cent and demanded a detailed public discussion on the FTA, calling for the deal to be scrapped.

Referring to President Droupadi Murmu’s joint address to Parliament, Mr. Ramakrishna said the speech was contradictory and painted an overly positive picture of the economy. He noted that while the President said 25 crore people were lifted above the poverty line, she also said 80 crore people were receiving free rice, which, he said, showed the extent of poverty.

He said the rupee, which was ₹60 against the dollar in 2014 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office, has now fallen to ₹91.64, and criticised the Centre for not addressing the issue.

Targeting the state government, he alleged that the Chandrababu Naidu-led administration’s land allotment policy favoured private firms and warned that Visakhapatnam and Amaravati could see major land scams if it continued. He called it “ridiculous” that the government was asking leaders to highlight the alleged ‘laddu’ adulteration case linked to the previous YSRCP regime without taking action.

CPI national council member J.V.S.N. Murthy (Nani) opposed the allotment of 54 acres to GITAM University and demanded its removal from the GVMC agenda. He also criticised the government for failing to release the promised job calendar by January 2025 and said repeated references to the previous government’s failures were meant to divert public attention.