FIPB clears 18 FDI proposals worth Rs 5,000 cr

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), on Tuesday, cleared 18 foreign investment proposals, including that of Aegon Religare Life Insurance and Aditya Birla Nuvo, worth about Rs 5,000 crore.

The FIPB, which is headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, discussed a total of 31 FDI proposals. The proposal of Aegon Religare Life Insurance, worth about Rs 560 crore for increasing foreign partner stake in the joint venture, was approved by the board, a source said.

The Insurance Act, 1938, together with rules and regulations framed thereunder permits foreign investment of up to 49 per cent in the paid up equity share capital of an Indian Insurance Company. In view of this, AEGON has agreed to purchase from BCCL, and BCCL has agreed to sell to AEGON, such number of equity shares of the Company as are representative of 23 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital of the Company.

AEGON Religare had filed with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board on 13 May 2015 seeking its prior approval to increase AEGON's shareholding to 49 per cent from the current 26 percent.

Besides, proposals of Sun Pharma Advanced Research, Aditya Birla Nuvo, HDFC Capital Advisors and International Trade and Exhibitions India were also cleared by the FIPB.

However, five proposals were deferred and eight were rejected, the source said. The proposal of pharma firm Cipla was rejected on lack of required information. Also, the investment plan of Apollo Hospitals was rejected as it did not comply with the foreign investment policy, source said.

Reliance Globalcom proposal was, however, deferred. ndia allows FDI in most of the sectors through automatic route but in certain segments considered sensitive for the economy and security the proposals have to be first cleared by the FIPB.

GIVING THE GO-AHEAD

• The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), on Tuesday, cleared 18 foreign investment proposals, including that of Aegon Religare Life Insurance and Aditya Birla Nuvo, worth about Rs 5,000 crore
• The proposal of Aegon Religare Life Insurance, worth about Rs 560 crore for increasing foreign partner stake in the joint venture, was approved by the board, a source said
• The Insurance Act, 1938, together with rules and regulations framed thereunder permits foreign investment of up to 49 per cent in the paid up equity share capital of an Indian Insurance Company
• India hopes to bridge gap with US to buffer against a Paris agreement that restricts country’s developmental space
• Two more meetings between Obama and Modi in November to help cement relations better on the subject

The foreign direct investment number for the month of July has not been made public. In June, India had attracted $2.05 billion FDI as against $1.92 billion in same month last fiscal year.

On the same day, British newspaper Financial Times reportedd that India saw the highest greenfield foreign direct investment inflows among all nations in the first half of calendar year 2015, beating the United States and China.

For January-June 2015, India attracted $31 billion in capital expenditure from foreign companies, beating China by around $3 billion. For the same period, Asia's largest economy attracted $28 billion while U.S attracted $27 billion.