Mumbai:
The ministry of overseas Indian affairs in association
with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has launched
an Overseas Indians Facilitation Centre (OIFC), which
will act as a ''one-stop-shop'' for addressing all queries
of Indians residing abroad regarding opportunities available
in the country.
Speaking
at the launch function, minister for overseas Indian affairs
Vayalar Ravi, who also launched a website of the new platform,
www.oifc.in, said that the objective of the OIFC is to
promote overseas Indian investment in India and facilitating
business-to-business partnership between Indian businesses
and overseas Indians.
"Overseas
Indians number around 25 million and are spread across
130 countries," Ravi said, adding, "We want
overseas Indians to benefit from the investment opportunities
in India."
"Though
we received remittances totaling $23 billion (in 2005)
from overseas Indians, investment by overseas Indians
has been far short of its potential, given the profile
of overseas Indians," Ravi said.
The
centre, through its website and offices, will provide
reliable data on investment opportunities free-of-cost
besides facilitating clearance of projects on an individual
basis as a paid value-added service.
Besides
providing a database of investment opportunities, the
centre would also offer advisory services to the 25-million
strong Non-resident Indians like consular issues, financial
services and their stay in India.
Based
on a public-private partnership (PPP) model, the OIFC
is
being promoted by the ministry and managed by the CII
and will operate as a "not-for-profit trust"
with a two-tier body for its management.
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