Govt. eases norms for FDI in multi-brand retail

The Central government has relaxed norms for foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail to make investment in retail more attractive.

It has also raised FDI caps in several sectors while making it 100 percent in telecom.

Announcing the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told reporters here last evening that the relaxation in multi-brand retail norms will give more clarity and more space to investors.

The amendment in the extant FDI policy relating to Multi-Brand Retail Trading in respect of 'small industry' will bring in a balance between the business exigencies of the MBRT entity and intent of the policy which is to extend the benefits of the FDI policy in multi-brand retail trading to a larger constituency of small industries.

The amendment in the provision regarding 'back-end infrastructure' will give more clarity to the policy. The amendment to the provision regarding location of retail outlets will bring in parity in the policy as it is proposed to extend such dispensation to all States.

Sharma further said, while the FDI cap in defence sector remains unchanged at 26 per cent, higher limits of foreign investments in state-of-the-art technology manufacturing will be considered by the Cabinet Committee on Security.

In single-brand retail, FDI up to 49 per cent will be under the automatic route and beyond that through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) route. In basic and cellular services, FDI has been raised to 100 per cent.