FM offers India on a portal

RUN-UP TO THE BUDGET

G2B portal and investment promotion board to attract Fortune 500 firms.

A G2B (government-to-business) portal and an Indian Investment Promotion Board (IIPB) will be among the two big initiatives Finance Minister P Chidambaram will announce in the forthcoming Budget to attract Fortune 500 companies to India.

According to finance ministry sources, the G2B portal would serve as an interface for private investors with the government and also provide them with the requisite procedural information for setting up a base in the country.

"It will be a portal and help the investors in communicating with the government," a source said.

The sources said Chidambaram had sought specific information on the Fortune 500 companies that had a presence in India. They said a quick study revealed that of the top 500 companies, just about 125 had invested in India.

The minister was not averse to meeting the bigwigs of these companies during his visits to foreign countries in the future.

The sources said the responsibility of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) might also be handed over to the proposed IIPB. "It is being felt that the FIPB was essentially a proposal-approving mechanism and had no major say on foreign investment policy," said a source.

Former Finance Minister Jaswant Singh was also of the opinion that there was no need for a body like the FIPB.

The ministry had earlier prepared a Cabinet note proposing that routine disclosures like the transfer of NRI stakes and gift of shares in joint venture companies, need not require FIPB approval.

The sources said a concerted push was required to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in India.

They felt that India had already liberalised enough by putting paid to FDI caps in many sectors and opening up even sensitive sectors such as the print media and insurance.

"There is a strong need to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks and cut red-tape," said a source.

The government already has the two Govindarajan committee reports on reducing procedural delays in public investment, and also cutting down on the number of clearances required for new foreign investment proposals.

"The IIPB could eventually turn into a single-window clearance mechanism for big-ticket investment too," the source added.