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The Government release norms for foreign direct investment (FDI) in many economic sectors, including the controversial retail sector. India will allow 51% FDI in retail for multiple products under one brand. What this means is that clothing and personal goods manufacturers such as Nike and Adidas will benefit but companies Hewlett Packard with its HP and Compaq lines of business will not. It is not known if the Government intends to liberalize the retail sector further. Even this liberalization will require extensive paperwork to be filed with the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and numerous other agencies. All product additions require prior approval. The Government allowed 100% FDI in Greenfield airports, alcohol, tobacco, industrial explosives and hazardous chemicals, wholesale trading, coal mining for captive usage, power trading and processing, warehousing of coffee and rubber, and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) pipeline laying. It has removed restrictions that 26% stake has to be sold to resident Indian shareholders in the business-to-business e-commerce companies
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