Expressing serious reservations over the Cabinet decision, senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the change in guidelines was being made applicable to all sectors, including key areas like telecom and defence, which had "dangerous implications" for the country's security. Besides, it would facilitate money laundering, he alleged.

"At a time when the Satyam scandal has come to light, we cannot create new avenues for money laundering. Besides, announcing such an important decision on the eve of the Parliament session shows that the Government is bypassing Parliament and it has scant regard for the institution," he told The Indian Express.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday decided that from now on all investments directly by a non-resident entity into the Indian company would be counted towards foreign investment. Apart from that, FDI in domestic joint ventures channelled through entities ultimately controlled by Indians would not be counted for calculating sectoral caps.

Yechury said the Left parties would raise issues like the massive job cuts that were taking place in the wake of the global financial crisis and highlight the Government's failure to insulate the country from the economic meltdown during the Parliament session, the last before the general elections.

"There should be massive public investment to create jobs for the people rather than giving bailout packages for firms. Such packages will only improve the balance sheets of corporate bigwigs, but not the lives of people," he said.