58 Fdi Proposals Worth Rs 815 Crore Cleared

The government today approved 58 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals envisaging a fresh investment worth Rs 815 crore, including Bharti Televenture's initial public offer (IPO) plan.

The cases were given the final approval by Union commerce and industry minister Murasoli Maran based on the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which considered and recommended these cases for final approval around two weeks ago. Some of the other proposals given the go-ahead include Fonterra Cooperative group's plan for setting up a joint venture (JV) with Britannia Industries for dairy business. Fonterra, the largest company in New Zealand and a cooperative of around 100 dairy firms, will pick a 49 per cent shareholding in the JV for Rs 110.40 crore.

Britannia Industries will pick an equal stake, while the company's trade partners will be given the remaining two per cent stake.

Dutch consumer electronics giant Koninklijke Phillips Electronics has been allowed to bring in a total of Rs 105.50 crore to convert two of its existing Indian subsidiaries -- Philips India Ltd and Punjab Anand Lamp -- into wholly-owned subsidiaries.

UK-based advertising company WPP's Mauritius arm has been permitted to increase its shareholding in the country's largest advertising firm, HTA, from the existing 60 per cent to 74 per cent. This will be done through acquisition of shares held by the company's employees. WPP has earmarked Rs 57.6 crore for the acquisition.

Swedish auto major Volvo Truck Corporation's proposal to charge royalty from its Indian arm, Volvo India, for the first time since the latter was set up four years ago, was also shown the green flag.

The government also cleared the proposal of Taj Hotels & Resorts, a Taj group and Kerala Tourism Development Corp JV, to bring in additional equity via Amaind, a Mauritius-based firm. Sources said that the Indian Hotel Corporation will renunciate its entitlement in a proposed Rs 33 crore rights issue to Amaind, which will eventually get a 22 per cent stake for Rs 10.16 crore.

Korean auto-part manufacturer Hwashin's Rs 25.50 crore proposal for setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary in Chennai to manufacture automobile parts for use by Indian car makers was also cleared. So was Toshiba Corporation's scheme of acquiring 10,000 equity shares at par in the Indian software arm for Rs 0.01 crore.