In a move to spur foreign investments, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has strongly backed increasing the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in defence and telecom sectors. The proposal for hiking FDI cap in both sector has already been discussed with the telecom and defence minister and once we have the proposal, will move to the cabinet for raising the cap to 100 percent, he added.
Referring to the defence sector, Sharma said that commerce ministry wants global majors in defence sector to partner both with the PSUs and the private sector to manufacture weapon systems in India as defence technologies have multiple applications including industrial applications. Further, it would also help to bring foreign inflow and to improve domestic manufacturing, which will also create jobs in the country.
Presently, FDI up to 26 per cent and 74 per cent is allowed in defence and telecom respectively. Ministry would move the Cabinet for further liberalization in other sectors as well which hold potential for FDI inflows, he added.
Moreover, to address concerns on multi-brand retail, commerce minister will meet global investors and will also convene a Round-Table with CEOs of Indian and foreign companies on June 27 after which the government could come up with some more clarification and simplification on FDI retail guidelines.
