France warned India the proposal to replace additional customs duty on wines and spirits with countervailing excise duty at the state level will weaken New Delhi's position in the dispute with European Union at the World Trade Organisation.
"Any trick to replace the national duties with state levies that would not result in overall duty reduction would complicate matters (at WTO)," French Trade Minister Christine Lagarde said.
The EU has dragged India before the dispute settlement panel of the WTO, alleging that high import duty on wines and spirits violates multilateral agreements.
The Indian proposal to bring a legislation to cut additional customs duty and allow states to levy equivalent of excise has not pleased the members of EU. The country imposes a duty ranging from 250-550 per cent on wines and spirits.
Lagarde also took up this issue with Commerce Minister Kamal Nath.
She also wanted India to increase FDI limit in single brand retail from 51 per cent, contending that the move would encourage premium French brands to set up shop in India.
While leading French brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton have set up retail operations in India, their overall presence still remains small.
