The government is likely to file draft papers for the mega initial public offering of LIC with market regulator Sebi by next week, while a portion of the issue would be reserved for anchor investors, a top official said on Wednesday.
While India allows 100 per cent FDI in a large number of the sectors, there is a ceiling on foreign investment in sensitive segments like multi-brand retail, insurance, defence and telecom.
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 party said it is "considering opposing" the proposal for taxing the PF corpus in Parliament.
BSE market breadth was negative with 1,909 stocks declining and 846 stocks advancing from the total 2,868 traded stocks.
Government has issued a formal notification for raising foreign direct investment limit in public sector refineries to 49 per cent. The FDI would require prior approval of Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The condition of compulsory divestment of up to 26 per cent by foreign companies commencing trading and marketing of petroleum products has been deleted. Government had allowed 100% FDI in actual trading and marketing of petroleum products, with 26% divestment condition.
The document consolidating all the aspects of foreign direct investment policy and framework will be released by commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma, an official said.
International investors are encouraged by the Indian government's recent economic policy announcements, including that on opening the retail sector to foreign direct investment (FDI). However, they would track how these measures were implemented, said speakers at the annual India Investment Forum in New York.
India can become a $6.7 trillion economy by 2031, from $3.4 trillion currently, if the country clocks an average growth of 6.7 per cent for 7 years, an S&P Global report said on Thursday. India had clocked a 7.2 per cent GDP growth in 2022-23 fiscal. But a global slowdown and lagged effect of a policy rate hike by RBI could slow down growth to 6 per cent in the current fiscal, S&P Global said in a report titled 'Look Forward: India's Money'.
Services attracted the most FDI during the first eleven months period of 2015-16.
E-commerce giant Amazon and Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy's Catamaran Ventures have "mutually decided" to not continue their joint venture (JV) beyond the end of its current term. The JV, Prione Business Services, which has been running successfully for the past seven years, was coming up for renewal on May 19, 2022. The JV enabled over 300,000 sellers and entrepreneurs to go online. It also enabled 4 million merchants with digital payment capabilities, providing these small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and merchants access to millions of customers across the country.
Buoyed by favourable policies, India has emerged as the fourth largest destination in Asia for foreign direct investment, attracting over Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) within the first six months of the current fiscal year.
In January 2014, the country had received $2.18 billion FDI.
As a consensus remains elusive on key economic policies like foreign investment norms, industry leader Deepak Parekh has said India's FDI policy is akin to 'inviting guests over to our house, but not opening the door'.
Experts say with a stable government, things will start improving but the impact might be visible only after six-12 months.
BJP has strong reservations in allowing FDI in mult brand retail.
Industry experts say that the government needs to further relax FDI norms to attract investors to the sector.
Wal-Mart CEO Michael T Duke, who would be visiting India later this month, is likely to meet Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and and discuss the country's FDI policy in retail.
The officials say no "concrete move" has yet been taken to take the matter to the Union cabinet for approval after the recommendation of the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) on July 22 to allow 51 per cent FDI.
In June 2008, the FDI inflow was USD 2.39 billion. However, the total foreign investment inflows during April-June contracted by over 30 per cent to $7.02 billion over the same quarter of 2008-09.
Undeterred by global credit freeze, India maintains a bullish outlook on attracting foreign direct investment which may be governed by easier rules, a top government official said.
The stipulation that new front-end stores will have to be set up will impact M&A in the sector.
The 2014 survey, which polled 502 global executives from companies with international presence, showed the majority of respondents were considering increasing their presence in India.
India will soon become a favourite destination for foreign investors and will be able to double the foreign direct investment that presently stood at about $4.4 billion, according to one of the architects of the country's financial policies.
The government on Wednesday said foreign direct investment in retail will not be allowed if it hurts small retailers.
The Union government indicated on Thursday that it might welcome foreign direct investment in the field of higher education and formulate a policy on it.
The government should stick to the recent clarifications released on FDI in multi-brand retail trading and not ease the conditions for foreign retailers.
The major driver of Mod's foreign policy can be gauged from his economic priorities such as creating employment opportunities for the youth bulge. Related to this is emphasis on manufacturing, and infrastructure development, which in turn raises the issue of FDI. He has already articulated his views on all these issues, says Rup Narayan Das.
The Commerce Ministry on Friday proposed revamp of the SEZ policy to address issues concerning land acquisition and boost exports with a view to bridge the widening trade deficit.
Most states have urged the Union consumer affairs ministry to set up a retail regulatory authority before opening up the sector for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). These views form part of the report, prepared by the ministry after seeking the views of states.
Online retail in the country is expected to grow to $200 billion by 2026, up from $15 billion in 2016.
The government on Friday said it has started implementing liberal FDI rules under which proposals up to Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) foreign equity would be cleared by the Finance Minister without seeking approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
The government has asked industry to provide a list of Chinese suppliers that would like to shift some capacity to India provided they are willing to set up JVs with Indian companies.
There is huge potential for data analytics insurance sector in India which has over 40 crore life insurance policies.
India is poised to capture a large chunk of global business on the back of high economic growth, liberal foreign direct investment regime and a skilled human reservoir, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said on Friday.
After topping it for two consecutive years, Gujarat slipped three places on the NITI Aayog's Export Preparedness Index (EPI) for 2022, as Tamil Nadu emerged as the most export-ready state, the central think tank said in its report released on Monday. In a continuing trend, coastal states were found to have the most robust export infrastructure, which officials attributed to the integration of maritime trade into the core of their economies. Maharashtra and Karnataka retained their positions -- second and third, respectively; Haryana was ranked first among landlocked states and fifth overall.
The Union Cabinet is expected to soon consider a proposal to increase foreign direct investment cap in broadcasting services like Direct-to-Home and cable TV networks to a uniform 74 per cent.
Global retail giant Walmart is expected to soon firm up its plan to foray into India's multi-brand sector.
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The cap on FDI in retail has been totally removed, while the limit in insurance sector has been enhanced to 46 per cent.
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