The recent Supreme Court order cancelling 122 licences of GSM operators will not have any bearing on foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to the telecom or any other sector, Union Minister of Corporate Affairs M. Veerappa Moily said on Tuesday.
Addressing the media, Mr. Moily said he expected foreign investment to improve as auctions in telecom ensured transparency that would benefit the country and the consumer.
Asserting that as a member of the Empowered Group of Ministers, he had argued for the auction route instead of a first-come-first-served policy in the allocation of spectrum, Mr. Moily said though there could be a temporary setback (following the order cancelling licences) he expected the affected operators to participate in the auctions.Earlier, addressing the “India corporate and investor meet”, the Union Minister said the Companies Bill was in the “last mile” stage and would be passed during the budget session. The Bill had been referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, which was expected to finalise the content in a couple of meetings, he said.
Hailing the National Competition Policy as a game-changer, Mr. Moily termed it as the second most important big-ticket reform measure after liberalisation that aimed for inclusive growth. In countries such as the U.S. where such competition laws existed, crude petroleum prices had halved and inflation effectively reined in and the same would happen in India, he said.
Mr. Moily said the competition policy would dismantle anti-competition mechanisms, check price manipulation and ensure free movement of goods.
Dismissing talk of policy paralysis as a negative perception that was baseless and untrue, Mr. Moily cited the surveys of independent agencies that ranked India as a top spot for FDI and FIIs (foreign institutional investors). The Indian economy, which also suffered minor setbacks during the recession, had bounced back within a year, he said.
According to the Minister, a national governance policy was also in the pipeline to check fraudulent practices in the corporate sector. Another proposal under review was for the constitution of commercial benches in 21 High Courts, he said.
