Finance Ministry pitches for a smaller FDI compendium

NEW DELHI: The Finance Ministry wants its industry counterpart to come out with a shortened and simplified FDI policy document as part of exercise to improve ease of doing business in the country.

The Finance Ministry, according to sources, is of the view that the compendium on consolidated FDI policy is very cumbersome and needs to be simplified.

"We are looking at ways to shorten the guidelines so that they can come in a couple of pages. Simplify it so that investors can understand it easily," a source said.

The current consolidated FDI policy runs into 119 pages.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which is the nodal department for FDI policy, had last come out with a consolidated FDI policy document in May, 2015.

The document is revised every year, incorporating changes in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy.

As per official data, FDI inflows into India totalled $19.39 billion in the April-June period, an increase of 29.5 per cent over the same period last year.

The NDA government is taking several steps to boost FDI. It has relaxed FDI norms for sectors such as medical devices, insurance, defence and construction activities.

India is ranked 142 among 189 nations in the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business 2015' report.

With the exception of two parameters (getting credit and protecting minority investors), India does not feature in the top 100 in the remaining parameters.