New Delhi: The Corporate Affairs Ministry on Monday said it is examining the report of the government-appointed panel that probed Walmart's lobbying activities with US lawmakers to enter the Indian market. "We are examining the report," Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot said.
The one-man committee, headed by former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal, had submitted the report to Pilot on May 18. The Ministry would look into the committee's report and make recommendations before sending it to Parliament, Pilot said on the sidelines of a Competition Commission of India event.
Set up in January 2012, the panel looked into "whether Walmart undertook any activities in India in contravention of any Indian law", and any other matter relevant to this issue. There was political uproar following media reports about Walmart's lobbying among the US lawmakers since 2008 for facilitating its entry into the Indian market. The government in December, 2012 had assured Parliament to get the matter probed by a retired judge.
As per US Congressional records of lobbying disclosure reports, the company spent a total amount of $6.13 million (about Rs 33 crore) on lobbying for various issues, including on "discussions related to FDI in India", during entire 2012. The tenure of the committee, which was expected to present its report by April 30, was extended. The panel, which met five times, had also interacted with Walmart representatives besides gathering responses from the public on the matter.
Meanwhile, Pilot said that there should be a demarcation between advocacy and lobbying activities. "In principle, I believe there has to be a clear demarcation and definition between what advocacy is and what lobbying is... In the absence of that there is ambiguity that creates a lot of problems and loophole on what these term means," he said.
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