The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday approved the introduction of a new asset class, designed to offer greater flexibility to fund managers and target investors with a higher risk appetite. The markets regulator also cleared the liberalised Mutual Funds Lite (MF Lite) framework, aimed at fund houses that solely launch passively managed schemes. In another significant move, the board reduced the timeframe for rights issues from the current 317 working days to just 23.
He said with an aim to make the FDI policy user friendly, all prior regulations and guidelines have been consolidated into a comprehensive document.
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
Under the present dispensation, a foreign player who entered India before January 12, 2005 has to take government approval and 'demonstrate' that fresh investment in the same field would not affect interest of his domestic joint venture partner.
Mamata Banerjee, Chief minister of West Bengal and an important ally of the UPA government has given go-ahead to the Foreign Direct Investment in the aviation sector, according to a source in her government in Kolkata.
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All foreign equity investments in stock exchanges prior to their listings will be treated as foreign direct investment, where 26 per cent is expected to be the cap.
In a reversal of its recommendations made in April 2008, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India whittled the increase it had suggested then in the foreign direct investment cap for companies set up to uplink television news channels, as well as in FM radio.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into India rose 54.8 per cent in November to $1.64 billion compared with $1.06 billion a year ago, a government statement
The Centre on Thursday cleared 14 Foreign Direct Investment proposals worth Rs 1,257 crore, including those of Mauritius-based Essar Telecom Holdings Ltd and US-based Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The proposals include induction of foreign equity worth Rs 500 crore by Essar Telecom Holdings and Rs 200 crore from GSAM. The investment proposals were cleared by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
The government on Friday hiked foreign investment ceiling in private banks from 49 to 74 per cent and allowed foreign banks to set up subsidiaries in the country.
Improved monsoon, solid fiscal performance, and capex push by the public and private sectors augurs well for India's macroeconomic stability and growth, the finance ministry's monthly economic review for June 2023 said. But the report said that while India's domestic fundamentals remain strong, negative cross-border spillovers and adverse global developments could act as a deterrent in achieving the high growth path this financial year. "An improved matching of aggregate supply and aggregate demand in the Indian economy underpins the progress made in the control of domestic inflation and the consequent strengthening of macroeconomic stability," the review said.
The government has imposed a service tax of 10.3 per cent on the gross value of tickets of all classes on the domestic flights and economy class on international routes.
While raising the foreign direct investment limit to 100 per cent in the single-brand retail segment six months earlier, the government asked retail chains with over 51 per cent foreign investment to source at least 30 per cent of the value of products sold in the country from Indian small/village/cottage industries, artisans and craftsmen.
FDI inflows into the country have been declining over the past two years despite policy easing in about a dozen sectors.
The stage is set for foreign investors to invest in India's commodity exchanges. The Manmohan Singh Cabinet will give formal approval this week on allowing foreign investment in commodity exchanges.
While the cumulative FDI inflows of $25.35 billion for April-February 2008-09 were higher than the $20.13 billion a year ago, the country has been witnessing a steep fall in foreign investments since October 2008, according to official figures. In February 2008, the foreign investment was $5.67 billion.
Allaying investor fears over the levy of long-term capital gains tax on share transfer in unlisted companies, the government on Friday said the move is only to target 'khoka' companies, and 'genuine investments' in start-ups and through FDI will be exempt.
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 Union ministry of consumer affairs has given the finishing touches to the policy framework to allow foreign direct investment and foreign institutional investment in India's national commodity exchanges.
Various corporate bodies from US and UK had cautioned that such tax proposals could dent India's image as an investment hotspot.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said the government is considering further liberalisation of the country's foreign direct investment policy for attracting investment in the infrastructure sector.
Bid to plug loopholes that surfaced in Hutch Essar case.
The government has last month significantly liberalised the FDI regime, putting most of the sectors on the automatic route
India received $2.21 billion in foreign direct investment in February, showing an annual growth of 74 per cent, taking cumulative inflows to $28.40 billion for the April-February period of the last fiscal.
Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday made a high pitch for American investments in India's power sector.
China's FDI growth saw ups and downs in the first 11 months of 2015.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has said that India is a land of emerging opportunities and the aviation scenario in the country is fast changing and poised for breaking boundaries and scaling new heights.
The new foreign direct investment guidelines may be revised with respect to the banking sector to avoid an adverse fallout for Indian banks with majority foreign equity.
Ananjan Mitter, partner at ALMT Legal, a law firm, has represented Air Charter Service in the venture's application to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, a key wing in the finance ministry that vets foreign direct investments proposals of companies.
The flow of foreign direct investment into China, dubbed as the world's factory, continued its slight decline in the first eight months this year.
