Mumbai:
The government is likely to club both direct and indirect overseas investment
to determine the extent of foreign direct investment (FDI) in a company. This
is the view emerged after the Hutch-Vodafone issue, sources close to the developments
said. The government is expected to change foreign investment norms for
sensitive sectors like aviation, petroleum and the retail sectors during the annual
review next month. The review, which is long overdue, has been delayed
as inputs from the various ministries have not yet been received. However,
sources said, the process of consultation among various ministries on FDI is in
progress, and is expected to be completed soon. The changes in FDI regime are
expected to be announced early next month. Meanwhile, earlier reports
had said that the government might allow foreign investors pick stake in commodity
exchanges and effect changes in norms and caps for aviation, petroleum and retail
sectors. While the government is extra cautious on the politically-sensitive
retail sector, it may liberalise FDI norms for asset reconstruction companies
where the limit currently stands at 49 per cent, subject to approval by the foreign
investment promotion board. The government is also likely to review the
cap on voting rights in the banking sector as also the condition that 26 per cent
of the equity in petroleum sector must be divested in favour of Indian entities
in five years. align="left">In
aviation, the government is yet to detail the proposal to set up a separate
head of air traffic services. The FDI norms here will differ according to the
constituents of the various services. > align="left">
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