FIPB to take up 31 foreign investment proposals on July 4

Finance Ministry will take a call on 31 proposals of foreign direct investment, including that of Johnson & Johnson and Monsanto Holdings, next week.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), headed by Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram, is scheduled to meet on July 4, the Finance Ministry said.

As per the FIPB agenda, Johnson and Johnson, Koye Pharmaceutical and Kemin Industries South Asia are among the nine FDI proposals related to pharmaceutical sector.

Other major investment applications include that of Ventura (India) Pvt Ltd, Opensource Software Solutions, Christine Comarmand Margotine and Monsanto Holdings.

While India allows FDI in most of the sectors through automatic route, foreign investments in certain sectors, like defence and pharmaceuticals, have to be first approved by the FIPB.

Foreign investments are crucial for India which needs about USD 1 trillion by March 2017 to overhaul infrastructure such as ports, airports and highways and boost growth.

The decline in foreign investments could affect the country's balance of payments and the rupee value.

Overall FDI into India grew by 8 per cent year-on-year to USD 24.3 billion in 2013-14.

The FDI into India has declined 26 per cent to USD 1.70 billion in April - the lowest in last five months.

Overall, the inflows had aggregated to USD 24.29 billion in 2013-14 as against USD 22.42 billion in 2012-13.

In 2013-14, Singapore replaced Mauritius as the top source of FDI into India, accounting for about 25 per cent of total inflows.