India has not made the giant leap that was needed.
Before leaving on a 10-day foreign visit starting Monday, Sharma said he would address concerns of foreign retail sector investors and ensure help in setting up stores.
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi launched an attack on parties opposing FDI in retail and other measures, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said FDI will be the central issue in the coming session.
The report -- World Investment and Political Risk -- which was launched by the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency said the net FDI inflows into the developing countries is projected to touch $416 billion in 2010, up from its 2009 level of $354 billion.
Palo Alto-based electric carmaker Tesla has initiated talks with the government on the modalities of setting up fully-owned retail outlets. The company needs to comply with the foreign direct investment (FDI) guidelines related to single-brand retail, including local sourcing norms, to sell directly in India. At least two other foreign majors - Apple and Ikea - were engaged in talks with the government long before the sourcing norms were eased under the single-brand retail route.
The Enforcement Directorate has arrested four persons including the MD of the Lava International mobile company and a Chinese national as part of its ongoing money-laundering probe against Chinese smartphone-maker Vivo, official sources said on Tuesday. They identified the four as Hari Om Rai, the MD of Lava International company, Chinese national Guangwen Kyang, chartered accountant Nitin Garg and a person called Rajan Malik. They have been taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Another roadblock to be removed from FDI path; Load on insurance chest.
Opposing a government-panel proposal to hike FDI limit in multi-brand retail, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Wednesday said such a move will hurt interest of small traders and mostly benefit large corporates.
The country's outward FDI showed a bigger decline of 52.7 per cent for the January-March quarter.
Reinvent and innovate will be the key mantra for the Indian pharma industry in the New Year as the 'pharmacy of the world' looks to move from volume to value leadership, amid emerging challenges of inflation and pricing pressures in the global markets. While R&D investment, market competitiveness, regulatory scrutiny, and domestic price regulations are expected to shape the growth of generics and injectable products, concerns such as price control and customs duties on medical equipment will continue to bother the healthcare industry in 2023. The industry believes that in view of India's G20 Presidency, digital health innovation, achieving universal health coverage, improving healthcare infrastructure and delivery will continue to be the key driving factors in 2023.
Accusing the United Progressive Alliance government of "heaping hardships on people," Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa flayed its "knee-jerk" reaction of increasing Foreign Direct Investment cap in different sectors and warned that its "insensitivity" towards people will take its toll soon.
The retail sector seeks industry status, which can reduce the cost of capital and to allow FDI in retail that can increase investments and global competitiveness
Asking the government to tweak FDI norms in multi-brand segment, retailers said sourcing rules must be made similar to that of single brand while demanding foreign firms be allowed to put only 50 per cent of first tranche of investment in back-end infrastructure.
There is huge potential for data analytics insurance sector in India which has over 40 crore life insurance policies.
The retrospective tax controversy was highlighted by Vodafone, but Cairn Plc's continuing problems point to the impact this law has had on FDI in India's oil and gas sector.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has approved 18 FDI proposals totalling Rs 1,820.24 crore (Rs 18.20 billion), including Manipal Educational Group's to induct foreign investment of Rs 1,435 crore (Rs 14.35 billion) in a holding company and US-based Freightcar to set up a joint venture for railcars.
As many as 14 central government services have already been integrated with the e-biz portal.
Demanding withdrawal of the decision, the Communist Party of India said the government had opened up telecom sector when the country was 'yet to overcome the loot and losses due to 2G spectrum scam'.
The government has relaxed the norms for allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the construction development sector. It is expected the move will boost affordable housing projects and smart cities across the country.
The government on Friday said the foreign direct investment norms in the retail sector would be liberalised further to ensure that investment flows into post- harvest agriculture activities.
The proposed legislation on special economic zones would give a big boost to the inflow of foreign direct investment in the country, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said in New Delhi on Friday.
India currently allows up to 100 per cent FDI in this sector, but the health ministry has moved a draft note for the cabinet to ban foreign investment in this sector
The Cabinet approval would help more than 200 fashion and apparel brands who are lined up to enter India, including international labels such as Avva, Colin's, Damat, Tudba Deri and Dufy
The BJP-led government may not permit foreign retailers to open mega stores in the country as such a move may adversely impact small traders and farmers, new Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman indicated.
India's current account slipped into a deficit of $9.6 billion or 1.3 per cent of GDP in the September quarter, the Reserve Bank said on Friday. The current account, which records the value of exports and imports of both goods and services along with international transfers of capital, was in a surplus mode both in the quarter-ago and year-ago periods. India's current account surplus had stood at $6.6 billion or 0.9 per cent of GDP in the April-June 2021 quarter, while in the year-ago period (Q2FY22), the surplus had stood at $15.3 billion or 2.4 per cent of the GDP, the data said.
Additional investment of $190 billion has to be made in the next eight years.
Sharma proposes to pass on the 'handover note' to his successor, which as per the poll projections is likely to be from Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
FDI inflow of $14.6 billion in the first five months of 2008-09 showed an impressive growth of 124 per cent over the same period last year. Earlier, in October the government had expressed optimism saying India would exceed its target of $35 billion this fiscal. Sectors that attracted maximum FDI in 2007-08 were services, telecom, housing, construction activities, real estate, electrical equipment, computer software and hardware.
.jpg)
The report comes at a time when the government is trying to clear pending FDI proposals, which include various planned investments in this sector.
In a major policy reversal, the AAP government wrote to the Centre to withdraw approval given by previous Congress government for FDI in multi-brand retailing in Delhi, saying the entry of global chains such as Walmart and Tesco in India would result in large-scale job losses.
The government has cleared 19 foreign investment proposals, including that of Walt Disney Company and Reckitt Benckiser (India), entailing total investment of Rs 2,326.72 crore (Rs 23.26 billion).
The foreign direct investment in the country declined by 25 per cent to $2.04 billion in January compared to the same month last year, snapping a trend of positive growth in the previous three consecutive months.
Fuelled by the $57.8-billion merger of HDFC twins (HDFC Ltd and HDFC Bank), M&A (merger and acquisition) transactions in India touched a record high of $124.2 billion in the first half of 2022-23. Bankers said with several transactions, including the government's stake sale in IDBI Bank and Hindustan Zinc in the pipeline, the ongoing financial year will end up as the best year for M&A activity in the country. Apart from the HDFC transaction, the $6.5-billion acquisition of Holcim stake by the Adani family and L&T's $3.2-billion acquisition of Mindtree added to the record transactions in the first half of FY23.
FDI inflows in the manufacturing sector rose by almost 45 per cent between October last year and this February.
With the Union government clearing the way for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the railways, the Railway Board is devising a plan for operations, maintenance and construction projects.
In July 2010, the country attracted FDI worth $1.78 billion.
The proposals, approved by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the recommendations of Foreign Investment Promotion Board, also included the application of Images Multimedia, which would bring in Rs 33.37 crore (Rs 333.7 million) in the country, according to an official release. NYSE Euronext would infuse Rs 281 crore (Rs 2.81 billion) in India for acquiring 5 per cent equity in Multi-Commodity Exchange. This amount includes premium as well.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances