Govt clears 24 FDI proposals worth Rs 2,727 cr

The government today cleared 24 foreign direct investment proposals worth over Rs 2,700 crore, out of which Singapore-based power company Asian Genco Pte Ltd and Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) accounted for the highest-value propositions.

"Based on the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB)... The government has approved 24 proposals of Foreign Direct Investment amounting to Rs 2,727.413 crore approximately," an official statement said.

Asian Genco has proposed to invest Rs 1,100 crore for setting up an investing company, while HDIL plans to invest Rs 747.50 crore through the issue of warrants for undertaking real estate development, including construction and development of residential projects, commercial and retail projects, slum rehabilitation and development and airport development.

Among the other proposals, media houses Kal Media Services and Jagran Media Network have been separately granted approval to induct foreign equity worth Rs 396 crore and Rs 225 crore, respectively, in an investing company.

Another big investment, Rs 186 crore, is expected to come from NDTV Lifestyle Holdings, which is looking at induction of foreign equity for the business of uplinking and broadcasting non-news and current affairs television channels, according to the statement.

The government also rejected 12 FDI proposals, including telecom company Etisalat DB's plan to transfer resident shares to a non-resident and UTStarcom India Telecom's plan to undertake additional activity in the telecom sector.

It also deferred consideration of 22 proposals, one of which is GMR Airports Holding's plan for inducting foreign equity in an investing company.

Proposals of other companies, such as Essar Capital Holdings, Tata Advanced Systems, Shriram Capital, Checkmate Services, Southern CNG Automobiles, Wireless Business Services, Wireless Broadband Business Services, Flagship Infrastructure, Verizon Communications, Alan Dick & Co and Telecordia Technologies Inc, were also deferred.