Govt to look at FDI in Railways, construction

The government is planning to further liberalise Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the construction sector and open up FDI in the Railways, said Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma on Monday.

The government has already opened up 100 per cent FDI in the power sector while the results of 100 per cent FDI relaxation in the single brand retail space has fetched foreign investments of $3 billion, Sharma said, against the backdrop of the CII Partnership Summit 2014 being held in Bangalore.

The city is hosting the Partnership Summit for the third time in association with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion of the government of India.

He said Tata, Mahindra and L&T have tied up with foreign companies to start defence-related production in the country. “Defence has been permitted to upto 25 per cent FDI, but we will consider proposals of more than 26 per cent also,” the minister said.

Sharma, while noting that moving ahead in the manufacturing sector is certainly a social imperative for India, Sharma said that the World Economic Forum held at Davos had reflected positive investor sentiments on the Indian economy. “Regardless of what the critics say, we have been seeing India’s economic rating as an attractive investment destination on the rise after the FDI and other reforms initiated by the central government,” Sharma said.

Delegations from 35 various countries have participating in the event and Karnataka is one of the fastest growing state in the country.

‘Rs 5 lakh cr investments’ Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in his keynote address at the Summit inauguration, said the government will unveil a new industrial policy in April to attract Rs 5 lakh crore worth of investments and create 1.5 million jobs in the manufacturing sector in the coming decade.

He said the state government has set up a manufacturing task force for specific interventions to drive growth in the industrial sector.