Cabinet approves easing of FDI norms

The union cabinet on Wednesday gave post-facto approval to last month's government decision to reform and liberalise norms for foreign direct investment (FDI) in 15 sectors, official sources here said.

The key changes in the FDI regime include raising the limit for FDI approvals from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to Rs.5,000 crore from Rs.3,000 crore; increasing foreign-investor limits in several sectors including private banks, defence and non-news entertainment media; and allowing property developers to sell completed projects to foreign investors without lock-in periods.

The crux of these reforms is to further ease and simplify the process of foreign investments in the country and to put more and more proposals on the automatic route instead of the more time-consuming and procedural government route.