JOIN USForeign investment in India would get a boost once the new Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) starts clearing projects to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore in the next fiscal year, according to the Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram.
“We would see many projects coming on stream in the next fiscal. CCI approvals would be for total investments of about Rs 50,000 crore by March end,” he said.
The government constituted CCI, under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to accord fast track clearances to high-end projects for time-bound implementation.
“Once the approval process is streamlined, more FDI is likely to flow into the country,” he said.
The CCI has met twice so far to and discussed clearances to projects in coal, power and oil and gas sectors.
The government has been taking steps to streamline investment and Finance Minister P Chidambaram has also been engaging with investors to attract overseas investment.
Fast tracking investments would provide impetus to the economy, which is grappling with a crippling slowdown, leading to multiple challenges.
The economic growth rate in 2012-13 is estimated to have slowed to a decade-low of 5 per cent, mainly because of slowdown in manufacturing and poor investments.
Several mega projects, including Posco’s proposed $12- billion steel plant in Odisha, are held up due to regulatory and acquisition issues.