25 FDI plans worth Rs 2,973 cr cleared

The government, on Tuesday, said that it has cleared 25 proposals for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth Rs 2,973.40 crore, including two proposals from Karnataka.
The government however deferred decision on 13 FDI proposals.

The 25 FDI proposals that were cleared included one by Rajit Shridhar Shetty of Karnataka to set up a firm with foreign equity to undertake the whole sale trading, export and import of various products. The Rs 267.69 crore FDI proposal of Kintetsu World Express (India) Pvt Ltd of Karnataka has also been approved. However, the government turned down eight proposals.

The 25 FDI proposals were cleared in the wake of recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board headed by Economic Affairs Secretary R Gopalan, said a release issued on Tuesday.

Among the 25 proposals, the one by the AIF III Sub Pvt Ltd of Mauritius proposes to bring in Rs 1,000 crore of FDI – the largest of the lot. It wanted an approval for inducting foreign investment in the units of a fund constituted as a Trust. Another approved proposal was from Microqual Techno for Rs 523 crore to increase foreign equity to carry out business of wireless telecommunications.

The proposal of pharma company, Mozart, has also been approved to bring in Rs 300 crore. Sun Pharma Research’s proposal has also been accepted. The government also approved the Rs 500 crore FDI proposal of Plethico Pharmaceuticals Limited of Mumbai for issue of foreign currency convertible bonds to carry out the business of drug discovery and development.

The Sun Pharma Research Company’s Rs 10 crore FDI proposal for infusion of foreign equity by way of issue of partly paid up shares to carry out the development of new proprietary drugs has been cleared, said the release from the Ministry of Finance.

The government, however, deferred proposals of two Bangalore-based companies. They were Stellence Pharmscience Pvt Ltd, for issue of equity shares and convertible preference shares to foreign investors and a proposal of Sutures India for induction of foreign investment in its existing business.