The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has deferred a proposal by internet service provider (ISP) Sify to issue American Depository Receipts (ADRs) with 100% FDI by two weeks.A meeting of FIPB, held on April 27, decided to defer the proposal by two weeks at the behest of the department of telecom, which is reviewing the matter of FDI in ISPs providing virtual private network (VPN) services.Sify had sought FIPB approval for the issue of ADRs against its 1,57,20,800 equity shares held by both domestic and internatonal shareholders to a maximum of 100% foreign equity on the basis of its ISP licence granted by DoT and having surrendered all international gateways. The current foreign holding in Sify is 58%.DoT had issued a provisional clearance to Sify in January this year for amending its licence after it furnished Rs 10 crore entry fee and bank guarantee in respect of its VPN service.Subsequently, FIPB had given approval to Sify's ADR issue. However, DoT later issued directions to ISP licensees seeking amendments for VPN service.
