Mumbai: Top industry body Ficci Friday said the ongoing logjam in Parliament over coal blocks row is affecting investor sentiment and asked for "sanity" to be restored at the earliest by allowing the House to function.
It also opposed any mass cancellation of coal blocks.
"There is a sanctity in the method in which we should be operating...I think there is a need to restore sanity and there is a need to work together for the good of the country," Ficci President R V Kanoria told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.
The main Opposition BJP has not allowed Parliament to function for over a week demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation over the coal blocks allocation issue.
According to a CAG report, private parties got "undue benefits" to the tune of Rs 1.86 lakh in the allocation of coal blocks since 2004.
Parliament was to discuss several Bills, including those related to financial sector reforms, but they have got stalled due to the ongoing bedlam.
Kanoria said Ficci is against any en masse cancellation of coal blocks as such a decision would send out a wrong signal to investors.
In case there are any misdemeanours or misdoings on the part of companies in getting the coal blocks, their licences should be cancelled on a case-to-case basis, he said.
The industry, Kanoria said, is looking for certainty in the policy-making which will help prop-up investments.
Doing away with attempts to retrograde taxation, managing fiscal deficit through divestment and a cut in key rates by Reserve Bank can help boost sentiment, he said.
Kanoria said the 5.5 percent GDP growth rate in the first quarter is encouraging given the current circumstances but was not above expectations.
One or two steps on the policy front can help revive investor sentiment, he said, adding the industry is counting on new Finance Minister P Chidambaram for reform initiatives.
PTI
