960406

BJP welcomes

foreign firms

for high-tech

NEW DELHI: India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has promised free-market economic policies and welcomed foreign investors in high technology areas in its election manifesto, the Times of India said on Saturday.

The party will encourage foreign investment for world-class technology, manufacture of quality products and identification of overseas markets, the newspaper quoted the party's manifesto, scheduled to be released on Sunday, as saying.

The Hindu nationalist party has been a traditional champion of market-oriented policies, but sets limits for foreign firms.

General elections will be held over five days between April 27 and May 30.

The BJP is the main challenger to Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao's Congress party, which initiated a sweeping reform programme five years ago.

While Rao has encouraged foreign investors like cola-maker PepsiCo (PEP.N) and its restaurant affiliate Kentucky Fried Chicken, the BJP says the country does not need them.

The party has in the past said it does not favour foreign investment in consumer products with the slogan "Yes to computer chips, no to potato chips."

The BJP promised to shrink the size of the government and set up a disinvestment commission to privatise state-owned companies, the newspaper said.

If elected to power, the party would initiate tax reforms, the newspaper quoted the manifesto as saying.-Reuter