India says Emaar MGF Land violated rules in $1.5 billion investments

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian government on Tuesday accused Emaar MGF Land Ltd , a joint venture between Dubai's Emaar Properties PJSC and India's MGF Development Ltd, of violating foreign exchange rules over investments of 86 billion rupees.

The company was accused of violating the central bank's foreign direct investment rules under the Foreign Exchange Management Act by using overseas funds to buy agricultural land, which was not allowed, instead of for development projects, according to a government statement.

An external spokeswoman for Emaar Properties in Dubai had no immediate comment.

Emaar MGF Land has been building homes, offices, shops and hotels in India since 2005.

 

(Reporting by Satarupa Bhattacharjya; Writing by Aditi Shah; editing by Tony Munroe and Ron Popeski)