FIPB to take up 41 foreign investment proposals on Apr 30

An inter-ministerial panel will take up as many as 41 foreign direct investment proposals, including that of Kotak Mahindra Bank next week.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), headed by Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, is scheduled to meet on April 30 to take up the proposals, said the Finance Ministry.

Kotak Mahindra Bank has approached the panel to seek nod for raising foreign investment cap in bank to 55%.

The Reserve Bank has barred overseas investments in the bank after foreign shareholding in it hit the permissible threshold following the merger of Kotak Bank with ING Vysya Bank.

Investments from FIIs, FPIs and foreign banks have reached 48.55% in the merged entity.

Other FDI proposals on the FIPB agenda include that of IIFL Holdings, INX Music, India Value Fund, Howell Energy Systems, and Huawei Telecommunications (India) Company.

FIPB is a single window clearance system for proposals on FDI.

India allows FDI in most of the sectors through automatic route, but in certain segments considered sensitive for the economy and security, the proposals have to be first cleared by FIPB.

During April-January this fiscal, FDI in India has increased by 36% year-on-year to USD 25.52 billion.

Government has taken a slew of steps in recent times to liberalise policies for foreign investors in the country. FDI cap in defence and insurance has been increased, while the railways sector has been opened for foreign investment.

Foreign investments are considered crucial for India, which needs around USD 1 trillion over five years (2012-17) to overhaul its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth.

Sectors which attracted maximum FDI include services, telecom, metallurgical industries, power, computer hardware & software and construction.