Keen to improve India’s attractiveness as an investment destination, the government has now decided to speed up clearances for foreign direct investment proposals and is also in the process of simplifying rules governing such proposals.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board will now meet twice a month and try to take up all the FDI proposals submitted up to a month before. The government’s decision to hasten and simplify FDI clearances comes at a time when India has been ranked as the top destination for foreign capital.

“The objective is to ensure that all FDI proposals submitted to the FIPB up to four weeks before the meeting will be taken up in the first meeting of the month. In the second meeting, all deferred or pending proposals will be taken up,” said an official familiar with the development. The FIPB is scheduled to meet on October 19.

“This system of a meeting every fortnight would continue to ensure that there is no backlog of proposals,” said the official, adding that it would also be ensured that ministries send in their responses to the proposals on time.

Simultaneously, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is also working to simplify the consolidated FDI circular to make it easier for investors to comply with.

As part of the exercise, the DIPP is examining how guidelines can be streamlined and sector specific conditions removed. Instead, the investor would be expected to follow norms laid down by the sectoral regulator.

Further, the sectoral regulator would also be responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance by the investor.

“Discussions however, are at a nascent stage and it has to be seen how this will work out,” said a second official, adding that strategic sectors such as telecom would not be part of this revamp.

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