"We are looking at foreign investment in a very positive manner. Food processing is consumer goods area, but if we get high technology, good packaging and produce for exports, foreign investment is welcome," he said in an interview to a private TV channel to be telecast tomorrow.

As India has a large agricultural base "we should be in food processing in a big way," he said, adding foreign investment would not be allowed for domestic consumption but would certainly be encouraged for processed food exports.

Outlining his Government's foreign investment policy, Sinha said it was welcome in sectors which were important nationally, like infrastructure, coreindustries and sectors where production for export would take place or where technology was needed.

He defined non-priority areas as those where India was self-sufficient and did not need foreign technology or capital.

Elaborating on swadeshi, Sinha said it was not a Government order and was a mere response to the emerging international situation.

He said it was to "protect and promote" national interests, but certainly did not mean to defend inefficiencies and high costs of Indian industry.

If Indian industry is not able to give quality products, then by all means foreign participation will be promoted for the latter's technology, he said.

Wherever it is not possible for the Indian industry to provide competition, there too the Government will have an "open mind" as competition is the essence, he said, adding, "I'm not referring to consumer products, I'm referring to a whole host of other sectors as well."

"Any area where Indian entrepreneurs are not in a position to provide competition,to give satisfaction to the consumer, then those are the areas where we'll have to look at the whole spectrum of foreign technology and foreign capital," he said.

Referring to the BJP's agenda of internal liberalisation, Sinha said the party had always been in favour of freeing Indian entrepreneurs.

"Now it is clear that by internal liberalisation we mean we should do away with all the internal unnecessary controls that exist for the Indian entrepreneurs. That is where we deepen, broaden and accelerate," Sinha said. The Finance Minister said the BJP slogan "micro chips yes, potato chips no" was a simplistic presentation to put it in stark contrast. It said "high technology yes, consumer goods no. It was a turn of phrase." He said after taking over as Finance Minister he had met a number of foreign investors already and they were not worried about the BJP policies on foreign investment.

"We might be worried but they aren't worried," he said, adding "because a chap who is coming to build roads, orairports or power plants or whatever in infrastructure, he's not in the potato chips business". "So he's not overconcerned or over-worried about whether we're promoting investors in potato chips or not. And the chaps who want to make an investment in an area in which they are not welcome in this country will not come," he said.