Broad consensus is emerging within a Group of Ministers chaired by finance and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee on a proposal seeking comprehensive changes in the foreign direct investment policy. This includes scrapping automatic approval in sectors that have FDI limits and in which ownership or control is shifting to a foreign company, and a new definition for calculating indirect foreign equity.
India on Tuesday mooted a marketing policy for the sector though domestic players opposed any move to allow overseas investments in the retail space.
'After 2011-2012, both our investment rate and savings savings rate have declined. 'Correspondingly, the savings rate in the economy as percentage of GDP, also has come down.'
CPI leader D Raja also attacked govt for going back on its assurance to hold consultations with all stakeholders.
India's current account deficit narrowed to $1.3 billion or 0.2 per cent of GDP in the January-March quarter of FY23, mainly due to moderation in the trade deficit and a robust increase in services exports, RBI data showed on Tuesday. However, for the 2022-23 fiscal, the current account balance recorded a deficit of 2 per cent of GDP compared to 1.2 per cent in 2021-22. "India's current account deficit (CAD) decreased to $1.3 billion (0.2 per cent of GDP) in Q4:2022-23 from $16.8 billion (2.0 per cent of GDP) in Q3:2022-231, and $13.4 billion (1.6 per cent of GDP) a year ago [Q4:2021-22]," as per the RBI's 'Developments in India's Balance of Payments during the Fourth Quarter (January-March) of 2022-23'.
Director P Sheshadri talks abut his new film.
Amid a debate within the government on allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, the nodal consumer affairs ministry is insisting on a foreign direct investment cap of 49 per cent in the sensitive sector, sources said.
FDI in real estate will now be through the automatic route and not through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks that those who oppose Foreign Direct Investment in retail are "ignorant", saying it is not the Opposition which is ignorant, but the United Progressive Alliance government and the Congress Party.
A Parliamentary panel that went into a Bill to create a pension fund regulator has favoured 26 per cent FDI in the sector, but found many lacunae in the legislation.
Japan on Tuesday said the labour unrest at Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India could impact foreign direct investment inflows into India, but ruled out its intervention in the matter.
The mood in the government seems to have hardened and they do not seem to be in a mood to budge on the issue. Prime Minister Mamhohan Singh indicated as much during his speech at a Youth Congress meet in the capital on Tuesday.
The real estate industry is divided over the impact of the proposed foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
The government on Friday approved 32 foreign direct investment proposals worth Rs 181.16 crore (Rs 1.81 billion).
Why the Union Cabinet was so impatient to allow FDI in multi-brand retail flummoxed many.
Accusing the opposition of spreading misinformation regarding policy initiatives taken by the United Progressive Alliance government, a combative Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said reform measures, including FDI in retail, will benefit the common man and create more jobs.
We are already reading and watching news from around the world.
The government is likely to allow FDI in high speed trains and other projects.
Says allow companies with up to 49% FDI to invest in restricted sectors.
Observing that India has a low foodgrain productivity and inefficient distribution, he said increasing the scale of investments in organised retail is one way to increase productivity and distribution efficiency.
China approved 9,582 new foreign-funded companies in first 5 months.
As Parliament on Tuesday began discussing Foreign Direct Investment in retail under a rule entailing voting, the Congress did not hide its displeasure over the "unhealthy precedent" that an executive decision has been put up for legislative vote.
The FDI announcements made by the government in multi-brand retail, single-brand retail, aviation sector and broadcast sector are expected to change the landscape of the respective industry.
India's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) nearly halved to $3.39 billion in April on an annual basis, as per data released by the RBI on Monday. The OFDI stood at $6.71 billion in April 2021. On sequential basis too, the outward investment from India in April was lower compared to $3.44 billion in March 2022.
A proposal to permit foreign airlines to pick up stake in domestic carriers is among the several measures being considered by the government to help the Indian aviation industry overcome the financial crunch.
Fissures in the opposition over Foreign Direct Investment in retail came to government's aid Thursday as the opening day of Parliament's winter session was washed out and Trinamool Congress' move for a no-confidence motion flopped.
Startup founders need to sit up and think about how not to take stardom for granted and how not to disappoint their fans who have stood in long queues for those precious selfies with popular entrepreneurs, notes Nivedita Mookerji.
Ministry officials said the matter is being reviewed with the objective of bringing down the FDI cap from 100 per cent to 26 per cent in line with the limit for news media. This decision for the review was taken while discussing the proposal of US-based Dow Jones and Company for setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary to carry out publishing the facsimile edition of Wall Street Journal in India.
Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma has been in news for his statement "inflation helps farmers". He talks about why he stands by his statement and how FDI in retail would set right prices for both agriculturalists and consumers.
