India receives 20.9 b dollars Foreign Direct Investment
New Delhi:Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said that the country has received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows of US 20.9 billion dollars during April-December 2009. Mukherjee said that the foreign
direct investment (FDI) inflows during the year have been steady in spite of the
decline in global capital flows. Mukherjee also informed the House that the
government has taken a number of steps to simplify the FDI regime, to make it easily
comprehensible to foreign investors. For the first time, both ownership and control
have been recognized as central to the FDI policy, and methodology for calculation
of indirect foreign investment in Indian companies have been clearly defined. A
consistent policy on downstream investment has also been formulated. Another
major initiative has been the complete liberalization of pricing and payment of
technology transfer fee, trademark, brand name and royalty payments. These
payments can now be made under the automatic route. Mukherjee said that the
Government also intends to
make the FDI policy user-friendly by consolidating all prior regulations and guidelines
into one comprehensive document, which would enhance clarity and predictability
of the FDI policy to foreign investors.
