FDI in aviation: what's in a comma?

Catch here is whether the comma allows new entities to be created to get foreign investment or are they welcome only in existing airlines

The AirAsia-Tata joint venture may have got the green signal from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board but the riddle of a comma seems to have caught the bureaucracy.

The notification that allowed foreign direct investment up to 49% in companies flying in India says “the Government of India has reviewed the position in this regard and decided to permit foreign airlines also to invest, in the capital of Indian companies, operating scheduled and nonscheduled air transport services, up to the limit of 49% of their paid-up capital”.

The catch here is whether the comma put after Indian companies allows new entities to be created to get foreign investment or are they welcome only in the existing airlines?

In the current scenario, bureaucrats sitting in judgement decided to interpret the sentence liberally and give clearance to the venture but a reading of the sentence may suggest otherwise.

Grammatically speaking, it appears that the comma here qualifies Indian companies as one already operating. In the current environment, the different interpretation of the rule book could mean either dampening investment climate by sticking to the comma and denying a clearance or changing the language to mean that FDI was approved to bail out ailing domestic airlines.

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