After reproaching the International Monetary Fund for its attack on India's SEZ policy, Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath has criticised the Reserve Bank for its 'inconsistent approach' towards special economic zones.
"The Reserve Bank must be consistent in its outlook on SEZs," he told PTI on the sidelines of a programme in Mumbai on Monday night when asked to comment on the recent notification on commercial banks' exposure to SEZs.
The apex bank asked the commercial banks to treat SEZs at par with any other real estate project when it comes to lending.
As a result, SEZs would find borrowing from banks costlier.
Nath's criticism of RBI comes just after he said he subscribes to Congress President Sonia Gandhi's view against diversion of farm land for industrial and non-agricultural
The minister asked the industry to take up the issue of higher provisioning by commercial banks for SEZs with RBI.
"RBI should be consistent. In its report, lauding the policy it had said that the SEZs are engines of growth and now in the notification, it raised the risk weightage," a visibly aggreived Nath said.
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