India Steel Market Watch
November 11: The government has eased foreign direct investment norms in 15 major sectors to speed up investment into the country. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has lifted the caps on FDI in critical sectors such as mining and mineral separation of titanium bearing minerals and ores, its value addition and integrated activities, and construction and manufacturing sectors, allowing 100% FDI. However, India Inc has welcomed the move, saying it had been looking forward to such a move.
Sumit Mazumder, President, CII, told ISMW, “We understand that the crux of these reforms is to further ease, rationalise and simplify the process of foreign investments into the country and put more and more FDI proposals on the automatic route instead of the approval route, and that is most welcome as an approach. At a time when the country needs to attract as much investment as possible to create jobs and move the economy to a higher growth trajectory, this move will be immensely helpful in boosting the investment environment in the country. This will also send a positive signal that the government remains committed to improving the ease of doing business in the country.”
In this round, some of the most critical sectors contributing to the economy have been selected and that augurs well. This is especially important from the point of view of bringing vibrancy to these sectors in the midst of an otherwise depressed global environment.