Eighteen of 30 product categories proposed by Swedish furniture major struck off.
A committee of secretaries will be meeting soon to consider a draft proposal, which suggests that decision-making on all policy issues pertaining to FDI be transferred from the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) in the Ministry of Commerce to the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) in the Ministry of Finance.
After approving 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail, the CoS is said to have suggested stringent conditions for foreign retailers such as minimum investment of $100 million.
Etihad and Qatar Airways have held informal talks with Kingfisher and SpiceJet to expand their footprints in India.
Country's largest realty firm DLF, which has tied up with Dubai-based developer Limitless for developing Rs 60,000-crore (Rs 600 billion) township in Bangalore, has sought government approval for bringing in foreign direct investments worth $ 150 million. Official sources said the issue would be taken by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Friday, adding it is likely to get approval. The foreign investment proposal would be given the final clearance by the FM.
Industry experts say that the government needs to further relax FDI norms to attract investors to the sector.
At the same time, Indian companies with a majority foreign shareholding could find it difficult to make 'downstream' investments since the new guidelines do not distinguish between different forms of capital and treats them as FDI. So, a company with high non-FDI foreign capital was considered an Indian entity. Now, they will be considered foreign-owned and their downstream investments will have to follow sectoral restrictions.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in public sector refiners, expanding the scope for FDI in the privatisation of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). The approval by the Cabinet will enable the sale of the government's 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL to a foreign buyer, and, at the same time, will open the door for FDI in other public sector companies in the oil sector put up for privatisation.
He said with an aim to make the FDI policy user friendly, all prior regulations and guidelines have been consolidated into a comprehensive document.
It also plans to open 5 new centres across India in addition to its two fulfilment centres (FCs) in Mumbai and Bangalore.
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.
As these forms are quite elaborate, their early notification will give assessees more time to get the documentation and paperwork ready, and hence make complete disclosures while filing their returns.
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.
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
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
The campaign will be launched in global as well as domestic markets across the media.
Foreign investment in news channels includes FDI, FII, External Commercial Borrowings and investment by NRIs.
FDI inflows into the country have been declining over the past two years despite policy easing in about a dozen sectors.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Various corporate bodies from US and UK had cautioned that such tax proposals could dent India's image as an investment hotspot.
India and Russia on Tuesday set a target of $100 billion in annual trade volume by 2030 and vowed to develop a robust bilateral payment settlement mechanism using national currencies. The two sides also inked a total of nine agreements to further broadbase cooperation in a range of areas including in the economic domain following summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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.
Goyal also said that current account deficit is likely to be 2.5 per cent of GDP this year.
The government has last month significantly liberalised the FDI regime, putting most of the sectors on the automatic route
The adjudicating authority of the Enforcement Directorate ED has adjudicated a show cause notice issued to Amnesty India International Pvt Ltd (AIIPL) and its CEO Aakar Patel for contravention of the provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act and imposed a penalty of Rs 51.72 crores and Rs 10 crores respectively on them, the probe agency announced on Friday.
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.
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.
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.
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.
China's FDI growth saw ups and downs in the first 11 months of 2015.
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.
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.
Bid to plug loopholes that surfaced in Hutch Essar case.
After nearly five months wait, the government on Friday cleared UK's BP Plc buying 30 per cent stake in most of Reliance Industries' oil and gas blocks, including the showpiece KG-D6 gas fields, for $7.2 billion.
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