Department of Telecom is considering to move a Cabinet note suggesting that telecom companies with no foreign direct investment should be allowed to have foreign chief executives.
India, the world's fifth largest economy in the world, is likely to overtake Japan to become the world's third-largest economy with a GDP of $7.3 trillion by 2030, S&P Global Market Intelligence said in its latest issue of PMI. After two years of rapid economic growth in 2021 and 2022, the Indian economy has continued to show sustained strong growth during the 2023 calendar year. India's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 6.2-6.3 per cent in the fiscal year ending in March 2024, being the fastest-growing major economy this fiscal year.
Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, once hailed as rising stars in India's clean energy sector, are now facing serious regulatory action.
Investments in the country are set to leap-frog this year with top 300 companies lining up projects worth Rs 2,00,000 crore (Rs 2,000 billion).
Pointedly blaming Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi for the United Progressive Alliance's government's nod to Foreign Direct Investment in retail, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati made it clear on Saturday that she would oppose the move tooth and nail."The Bahujan Samaj Party will launch a strong movement against the policy in case the UPA government manages to get the approval of Parliament," she declared.
The new Foreign Trade Policy, to be unveiled on April 7, would focus mainly on attracting foreign direct investment and generating employment for the youth.
India Inc's investments abroad in April-June 2015 have once again risen to $1.3 billion.
The drop was the result of the change in FDI rules, which was amplified by the border standoff between India and China.
In its comment on the industry department's discussion paper on foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Walmart, said though 100 per cent FDI should be allowed in the sector, it would endorse a calibrated opening.
The finance ministry is seeking to speed up deals with outside investors.
'If the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation cuts funds, there could be more impact.'
Interrupting a two-month streak of decline, outward foreign direct investment (FDI) rose sequentially to $1.85 billion in July over $1.07 billion in June, an increase of 73 per cent. However, it was lower than the $2.18 billion in July last year, according to the Reserve Bank of India data. Outbound FDI, expressed as financial commitment, has three components - equity, loans, and guarantees.
The Enforcement Directorate has upgraded its Look out Circular (LC) issued against Byju's founder and CEO Byju Raveendran in connection with a FEMA probe, seeking to stop him for going abroad. The earlier such alert meant that immigration authorities had to just intimate the agency about his movements through various ports. Official sources said that the over an year old LC was revised sometime back in light of investors' concerns and ongoing adjudication of a FEMA contravention case against Raveendran and some others.
DIIs owned equities worth Rs 73.5 trillion, just 1.9 per cent less than FPIs. This marks a significant change from a decade ago.
At the end of the day, for many worldwide, the ongoing mutual attacks between Israel and Iran would seem a contest devoid of any moral high ground and only a bout between two ordinary adversaries, one that nevertheless risks spinning out of control into a larger conflagration, notes Shyam G Menon.
'While my generation carries with it the memory of the Chinese perfidy of 1962, this generation will carry the memory of Chinese perfidy in Galwan.'
China supplied more than $20 billion worth of arms to Pakistan. These include 20 J-10CE and JF-17 Block III fighter aircraft, Wing Loong drones, frigates, submarines, Hongqi HQ-9P surface-to-air missiles, 240 PL-15E air-to-air missiles, LY-80 air defence systems, ZDK early warning aircraft and other weapons.
DoT sent the final Cabinet note to various ministries on Monday. The telecom companies have to comply with the FDI guidelines by January 2.
Insurance sector regulator IRDAI has given conditional approval to Hinduja Group firm IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL) for the takeover of debt-ridden Reliance Capital. "We are happy to acknowledge the receipt of approval from IRDAI yesterday (May 10, 2024) on the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya. "The approval is subject to certain 'regulatory, statutory, and judicial' clearances/compliances," an IIHL spokesperson said in a statement.
The USIBC -- a body that represents the views of Corporate America -- hailed India's steady progress in advancing major economic reforms in a statement following Cabinet approval for opening up India's vast multi-brand retail sector to foreign direct investment and removing the FDI cap in single-brand retail.
The exodus of foreign investments from Indian equity markets continued unabated, with FPIs pulling out nearly Rs 20,000 crore in the last five trading sessions on higher valuations of domestic stocks and shifting their allocation to China. As a result, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned net sellers in the equity market, with total outflows reaching Rs 13,401 crore for 2024 so far. Going ahead, the FPI selling trend is likely to continue in the near term till data indicate the piossibility of a trend reversal.
Under the amended treaty with Mauritius, for two years beginning April 1, 2017, capital gains tax will be imposed at 50 per cent of the prevailing domestic rate.
Despite all the noise around India's chance to leverage the China-plus one strategy, India's share of global foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows fell from 3.5 per cent in the first nine months of 2022 to 2.19 per cent in the same period in 2023, according to OECD data. The sharp drop of 54 per cent is much steeper than the overall global FDI inflow decline of 26 per cent in the first nine months. FDI inflows to China have fallen dramatically from a share of 12.5 per cent in the first nine months of 2022 to only 1.7 per cent in the same period in 2023.
'India enjoys conventional superiority, but nuclear deterrence imposes clear boundaries.'
The government has amended rules of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), paving the way for up to 20 per cent foreign direct investment in the insurance behemoth LIC. The government is planning to dilute its stake in LIC through the the Initial Public Offering (IPO). LIC in February had filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) before the markets regulator Sebi for the IPO.
This is the largest foreign direct investment proposal in the state and represents a five-fold increase from an earlier announcement by GFH for a $2 billion to $2.5 billion investment in an "energy city".
Internet shutdowns by law enforcement agencies like the one in Manipur and Punjab cost $1.9 billion to the Indian economy in the first half of 2023, a report said on Thursday. The shutdowns also led to a loss of nearly $118 million in foreign investment and triggered over 21,000 job losses, the global non-profit Internet Society said in its report 'Netloss'. The non-profit arrived at the financial impact of the shutdown going beyond the loss of output and included factors like change in the unemployment rate, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) lost, risks of future shutdowns, population in the working age etc.
Another priority in the first 100 days could be the launch of an e-platform -- Trade Connect -- to help exporters connect with stakeholders of international trade.
With India's EV penetration at just 2.5 per cent, the market presents an opportunity -- provided Tesla gets its pricing right.
A series of steps taken by the government to promote ease of doing business and liberalisation of foreign direct investment norms have helped India receive record FDI inflows so far this year, and implementation of measures like PM Gati Shakti, single window clearance and GIS-mapped land bank are expected to further push investments in 2022. Notwithstanding the global slowdown and the COVID-19 pandemic, total foreign direct investments into India rose to a record $81.72 billion in 2020-21. During April-July this fiscal, FDI (foreign direct investment) into the country increased by 62 per cent to $27.37 billion.
ONGC's overseas arm applied for a sanctions waiver to access $500 million dividend from two Venezuelan projects.
Foreign investors turned net sellers in October, offloading shares worth Rs 27,142 crore in just the first three days of October due to intensifying conflict between Israel and Iran, a sharp rise in crude oil prices, and improved performance of Chinese markets. The outflow came after FPI investment reached a nine-month high of Rs 57,724 crore in September. Since June, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have consistently bought equities after withdrawing Rs 34,252 crore in April-May.
The share of foreign companies in private sector investments, directed towards building new factories and other facilities, has declined over the past six months. A mix of large domestic announcements and relatively lower growth in foreign capital expenditure (capex) plans have played a role, although foreign investments remain near record levels. The share of foreign companies in the overall private sector investments over the four quarters ended June 2023 has dipped to 14.9 per cent, as shown by a Business Standard analysis of data from the project tracker Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.
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.