FIPB clearance must for FDI in domestic pharma units

04 Dec 2012 Evaluate

Amid growing concerns over availability of affordable essential drugs in the wake of global firms acquiring local companies, the government has decided that all foreign investments in existing domestic Pharma firms should be allowed only after clearance by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).  Any foreign company acquiring an Indian firm, which had been producing essential medicines, would have to continue to do so till the time the Competition Commission of India (CCI) was empowered to vet such deals and views on such mergers and acquisitions.

The decision was taken at a high level meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that was attended by the Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The amendment to the Competition Act 2002 was approved by the Cabinet in October this year; the government is checking the legality of inserting new sectoral specific clauses in the Act so that the CCI could direct foreign firms to produce a specific quantity of essential medicines after acquiring an Indian company.

Moreover, it is also being examined whether the threshold limit for foreign investment in Brownfield projects that would require CCI clearance should be revised from the existing about Rs 750 crore limit.

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