In a bid to send a firm signal to foreign and domestic sectors that the government is committed to reforms, Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma on Sunday said a proposal to hike foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector to 100 per cent would be brought before the Cabinet very soon. The current FDI cap is 74 per cent.
Mr. Sharma said he also strongly favoured hiking FDI in defence to 49 per cent from 26 per cent in order to bring in high-end technologies in the sector to meet the country’s needs and to become a net exporter of this equipment in the future. “This would also encourage the setting of manufacturing units and help in induction of high-end technology.’’
Mr. Sharma said he would meet Defence Minister A.K. Antony soon on hiking FDI in defence. “I am strongly in favour of raising the cap in the telecom sector. I have discussed this with the Telecom and Finance Ministers, and once we have the proposal, we will move the Cabinet for raising the cap to 100 per cent, and also for FDI in defence,’’ he told reporters.
The Minister said he would hold deliberations with the Prime Minister on more FDI in defence and telecom.
To address the concerns of major global retail chains on various issues in FDI in multi-brand retail, he would chair a retail round table involving CEOs of Indian companies and foreign investors on June 27 here to seek views on implementation issues and to address their concerns, if any.
“The idea behind opening up the defence sector to more FDI is to ensure cutting edge technology for Indian companies and armed forces through joint ventures and collaborations and get the best technology and investments into this sector,’’ he said before leaving for Finland.
