Govt to unveil revised FDI policy paper tomorrow

The government will tomorrow release the revised consolidated foreign direct investment (FDI) policy paper, a ready reckoner for foreign investment related regulations.

"This will incorporate all changes effected in FDI Policy...i.e. From October 1 to March 31," a Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) official said.

The government in 2010 had decided to come out with consolidated FDI policy paper summarising all the regulations including those of FEMA and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the benefit of foreign investors. It revises the policy every six months.

The department had released the last edition of consolidated FDI policy on September 30, 2011.

In the last edition, the government had allowed overseas investment in bee-keeping and share-pleding for raising external debt.

The conditions for FDI in respect of construction of old-age homes and educational institutions were also eased.

The consolidated document aims at helping foreign investors as it contains all the current regulatory framework and subsumes all FDI policies announced prior to the release of the paper. It also has regulations on FDI, contained in FEMA and RBI circulars.

For April-January 2011-12, FDI went up by 53% to $26.19 billion from $17 billion in the corresponding period last year.