100% Enron Arm Among 72 Fdi Proposals Cleared
Industry minister Murasoli Maran has cleared a proposal by US-based Enron International to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary for fresh investments in the country.
The Enron proposal, envisaging a foreign direct investment (FDI) of Rs 350 crore, is among 72 proposals approved by the industry minister on the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) with a total FDI of Rs 1,233.66 crore.
The proposal by Mercedes-Benz India to increase stake in its Indian joint venture with Telco from 51 per cent to 76 per cent has also been cleared by the minister. The FDI proposed is Rs 178.50 crore.
US-based glass fibre manufacturer Owens Corning has been given the nod to pick up 75 per cent equity in its Indian joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra. The company can invest up to Rs 135 crore in the project.
Hughes Network Systems of USA has been allowed to enlarge their activities in the country while Cummins has been allowed to gain a majority shareholding of 51 per cent, up from 50 per cent, in its diesel engine joint venture project.
German engineering giant Siemens proposal to merge the Indian telecom equipment manufacturing company Siemens Communications Software Ltd into its parent company has also been allowed.
Other notable clearances include Usha Martin Telematics proposal to set up a software project with 49 per cent FDI (Rs 13 crore) from a Malaysian company, Rs 56 crore FDI proposal by Baan IT Park India for a 100 per cent foreign equity in software devices project, Krishna Godavari Power Utilities Ltds proposal to bring in 100 Rs crore non-resident Indian equity as 80 per cent of project equity for power projects in Andhra Pradesh.
These proposals together have export projections over Rs 1270.89 crore in the next five years, an official release said here yesterday.
Other major proposals approved by the minister include Majithia Millennium Medicare Ltds proposal to set up an ultra modern healthcare centre and teaching institute in Mumbai with an FDI component of Rs 100 crore.
With this, the number of FDI proposals approved by the industry minister since July 1996 has gone up to 1,268 with proposed FDI of Rs 24,836.04 crore.