India to revise FDI caps in different sectors: Chidambaram

The government is likely to remove foreign direct investment (FDI) ceilings from sectors where these are not serving any purpose, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said Monday.

Addressing a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee here, Chidambaram said: "The government is looking at FDI caps to see if they are indeed serving the purpose."

"Otherwise the caps could be revisited," the finance minister said.

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma had said Sunday that a proposal to hike FDI cap in telecom sector to 100 percent would be brought before the cabinet soon.

"I am strongly in favour of raising the cap in telecom sector. I have discussed this with the telecom and finance ministers and once we have the proposal, we will move the Cabinet for raising the cap to 100 percent and also for FDI in defence because we want defence manufacturing to be here," Sharma told reporters.

At a press conference recently, Chidambaram had said that the government would take major reform measures in the coming weeks.

India allows up to 100 percent overseas investments in a large number of sectors. However, there are ceilings in some sensitive sectors like multi-brand retail, insurance, banking, telecom and defence.