The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Friday cleared seven foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals in pharmaceutical companies, while deferring three cases on concerns of ownership control.
“FIPB has considered all the applications, and taken decisions on merit ... We have cleared 7 proposal and deferred 3,” a Finance Ministry official said after the meeting of the board.
The FIPB, headed by Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, discussed 30 FDI proposals, including 10 from the pharma sector.
“In cases where issues related to control were there, the decision in those cases have been kept in suspension till the review process is completed by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). We will wait for final policy decision,” the official said without disclosing the proposals that were cleared by the board.
The proposals which were discussed in the meeting include that of Singapore’s GlaxoSmithKline Pte Ltd, U..S’s Mylan Inc, Mauritius-based Castleton Investment Ltd., Mumbai-based Ferring Therapeutics and Hyderabad-based Verdant Life Sciences.
At present, 100 per cent FDI is allowed in the pharma sector through the automatic approval route in the new projects but the foreign investment in the existing pharma companies are allowed only after FIPB’s approval. The government is likely to soon finalise FDI policy with regard to existing drug companies.
