Singh defends India financial reforms Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister, mounted a robust defence of new reforms to liberalise the Indian economy, appealing to the country's 1.2bn people to ignore opposition parties spreading "fear and false information." "The time has come for hard decisions," he said in a televised address to the nation on Friday, which he delivered first in Hindi and then in English. We have much to do to protect the interests of this country and we must do it now. Since last week, Mr Singh's Congress-led coalition government has announced an unexpectedly bold series of reforms, including a cut in fuel subsidies and a move to allow foreign investment in supermarkets and department stores. The reforms have angered small shopkeepers and leftwing parties, but have delighted domestic and foreign investors after years of delay and indecision. Walmart, the US supermarket group, is already involved in wholesaling in India and hopes to identify sites for retail outlets within 12-18 months. "I don't think India is a hostile market," Scott Price, the group's Asia president, said on Friday, predicting that local governments would within a few years be so convinced of the benefits of "modern retail" that restrictions on foreign direct investment would melt away. The new rules allow foreign groups to hold 51 per cent of mass retail outlets. Proponents of liberalisation, including Mr Singh, argue that foreign investment would help farmers avoid the depredations of middle men, improve logistics for food transport and not even damage the interests of small traders given the increasing population and likely growth of the economy. The retail trade is thought to be worth about $450bn a year in India. "I promise that I will do everything necessary to put our country back on the path of high and inclusive growth, but I need your support," Mr Singh said. Earlier on Friday, the government took further steps to boost the economy and shrugged off attacks from left and right over its new-found enthusiasm for reform. The renewed commitment from Mr Singh to economic reform has been effusively welcomed by foreign and domestic investors but has caused an uproar among the country's political parties, with rightwing and leftwing opponents of reform joining forces to attack the government. Additional reporting by Enid Tsui in Hong Kong