The government on Wednesday announced the approval of Japan-based Daiichi Sankyo's proposed acquisition of shares in domestic pharma major Ranbaxy [Get Quote], along with 23 other proposals for a total FDI investment of Rs 753.14 crore (Rs 7.53 billion).

The approval to 24 foreign direct investment proposals was given by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the recommendations of Foreign Investment Promotion Board, which took up these cases on July 29.

Daiichi's proposal involves subscription to equity shares of two Indian companies and issue of warrants amounting to Rs 104.63 crore (RS 1.05 billion), said a finance ministry statement.

Ranbaxy had announced in June that Japanese pharmaceutical major was acquiring 34.82 per cent promoters' stake from the Delhi-based Singh family.

Other proposals included that of Devas Multimedia for infusing fresh investment of Rs 317.85 crore (Rs 3.18 billion) in the Indian telecom sector.

Germany-based Mahle Gmbh, which has a joint venture with India Pistons for making pistons for advanced engine applications, has also got approval for investing Rs 140.92 crore (Rs 1.41 billion) to set up a wholly owned holding company.

Besides these, the proposals that were approved included that of Takara India, Top Security, Religare Enterprises, and Perfect Circle that have proposed to invest to Rs 17 crore (Rs 170 million) for induction of FDI up to 51 per cent in a autoparts company.

Meanwhile, 11 proposals were deferred by FIPB which included that of soft drink giant Pespi India to raise its equity base from $405 million to $455 million and Hindi-newspaper group Amar Ujala's proposal to amalgamate two firms.

Delhi-based Meta Telecom's proposal to raise foreign equity from 40 per cent to 73.45 per cent was rejected apart from that of Mauritius-based ICP Investment's proposal to transfer shares.