The move to open multi-brand retail to foreign direct investment may run into rough weather, with key Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states, as well as some constituent parties of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, rejecting or being ambivalent towards the proposed policy.
The government on Thursday clarified that the multi-brand retail store set up by a global retail entity will have to be 'company owned and company operated' and not operated by any franchisee.
Since August 2013, FIPB has approved two FDI proposals in the telecom sector.
SBI has the largest exposure of Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) to the airline which has not been serviced since this January.
.jpg)
The Railway Budget is likely to be presented in the second week of July.
In matters of policy, this court will not interfere unless it is unconstitutional, the judge declared.
Ten states and Union Territories have endorsed the Centre's decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Monday.
The Wall Street major Morgan Stanley has upgraded India to "standout overweight" citing that the relative economic and earnings growth is improving and the macro-stability setup looks sufficient to withstand the higher real rate environment. "India remains standout overweight. "We increase our overweight stance on Indian equities and as our most-preferred emerging market," the brokerage said in a note on Friday.
The letter came on a day when at least 16 Kingfisher flights, 10 from Mumbai and six from Delhi, were cancelled due to the strike.
According to experts, this will have major impact on new investments by Chinese players in companies, such as Paytm, Ola, BigBasket, Byju's, Dream11, MakeMyTrip, and Swiggy, when they go for follow-up funding. Chinese investors, such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Xiaomi, are active in the Indian start-up space, and have collectively invested billions of dollars.
Notwithstanding its inability to open multi-brand retail for foreign investment, government on Tuesday notified 100 per cent FDI in single-brand retail, paving way for global chains like Adidas, Louis Vuitton and Gucci to have full ownership of their India operations.
Foreign direct investment in the multi-brand retail may be allowed subject to a stiff condition that global retailers will have to invest heavily in the back-end infrastructure like warehousing and cold storage.
After declining for two months in a row, foreign direct investment (FDI) in India grew by 8 per cent year-on-year to $2.15 billion in January.
Tesco, which has sought the government's permission to buy 50 per cent stake in Tatas-owned Trent Hypermarket Ltd, will have to invest atleast $55 million in creation of fresh back-end infrastructure.
FII's too have invested in huge amount in the country
Anand Sharma, who took charge of the nodal ministry for FDI on May 29, said there is no need for a relook at the policy amended in February by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. While the policy does not allow overseas inflow into this sector, the changes in February were perceived to be opening the sector to FDI up to 49 per cent in an Indian firm that has a downstream subsidiary firm in retailing.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Commerce Ministry proposes to scale back the Foreign Direct Investment ceiling for the tobacco industry from 100 to 74 per cent and insert a caveat that cigarettes manufactured in the new ventures or in upgraded facilities must be mainly for consumption outside India.Sources said the department, which is responsible for the policy on FDI, is finalising a cabinet note aimed at comprehensive review of the tobacco policy.
.jpg)
The company, which sells luxury products, including brands like Cartier, Piaget, Panerai and Montblanc, has also sought few clarifications from the government on conditions for selling sub-brands from the same stores, according to sources.
The government will draw up FDI guidelines for minor investors and set up an exclusive park for overseas units.
The Bahujan Samaj Party on Monday indicated that it will support the government in Parliament on the issue of Foreign Direct Investment, saying the fact that the Centre has not thrust the policy on states and the aim of keeping communal forces at bay will determine its stand.
India, at present allows 51 per cent FDI in single brand retail and 100 per cent in the cash-and-carry .
Analysts say July 23, 2011, was like a red letter day for foreign investors when the Committee of Secretaries, headed by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth, recommended opening up the multi-brand retail trade.
The Union ministry of food and consumer affairs proposes to insert a new clause in the fresh discussion note for the Cabinet on allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
The government has last month significantly liberalised the FDI regime, putting most of the sectors on the automatic route
Fanning the hopes of private industry, the government today said it would consider allowing 49 per cent foreign investment in the defence sector "on a case-to-case basis."
The decision to increase FDI in single brand retail was taken by the Cabinet on November 24 along with opening the gates for overseas investment in the multi-brand retail.
Services attract highest foreign direct investment, despite Make in India push.
Goldman Sachs and other foreign investors may have to cut stakes in Indian comexes, following the FDI policy.
In January-June, India attracted $31 billion (Rs 2.05 lakh crore) in capital expenditure (capex) from foreign companies.
In 2011-12, FDI rose 34.4 per cent to $46.84 billion, compared with $34.84 billion in 2010-11 and $37.74 billion in 2009-10, according to data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.
'With China falling out of favour, India is where investors see the demographic and digital dividend apart from the benefits of reforms playing out.' 'Your prime minister has also done a great job of sharing this story with the world.'
The Indian government has simplified FDI policy inorder to attract global retail chains.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved revision in guidelines for providing direct to home (DTH) services in the country under which licenses would be issued for 20 years, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said. The Union Cabinet has also approved 100 per cent FDI in the DTH broadcasting services sector, Javadekar said, adding that while the commerce ministry had spoken of 100 per cent FDI in the DTH sector, the guidelines of the information and broadcasting ministry needed to be changed.
Floats discussion paper for stakeholders' feedback with a deadline of January 28.
Jaitley praised the DRDO saying it was "doing quite a lot to meet the requirements of the armed forces but the Services need much more and that will come through domestic industry."
UK's largest retailer Tesco, Singapore Airlines and Etihad queued up to invest in India as a persistent UPA threw open more sectors to foreign investments with indications of more big ticket deals to be announced in the new year.
A government panel on Tuesday proposed raising foreign investment limits in sectors like defence, multi-brand retail and telecommunications, to spur investment in the country and tide over the Current Account Deficit woes.
Embargo on imports from a neighbouring country would send a chilling signal to foreign investors who look for transparency and companies with manufacturing units in India had requested the government to publish any change in port policy "to provide the business community with the visibility they need to function", says United States-India Strategic Partnership Forum.
India and China are emerging as significant sources of foreign direct investment in Africa even as the overall percentage of FDI from Asian countries targeted towards the continent remains low, the United Nations has said.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances