55 Press Release by the Press Information Bureau, Government of India, dated February 11, 2010
Review of cases requiring prior approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has taken the following decisions with regard to cases of foreign investment requiring prior government approval.
Presently, proposals with total project cost of up to Rs. 600 crores require approval from the Finance Ministry, and proposals with total project cost of up to Rs. 1,200 crores require approval from the CCEA. Henceforth, only proposals involving total foreign equity inflow of more than Rs. 1,200 crores will require CCEA approval. And the Finance Ministry, based on the recommendations of the FIPB, will consider proposals with total foreign equity inflow of up to Rs. 1,200 crores.
In the following cases where prior approval of FIPB / CCEA for making the initial foreign investment was taken, fresh approval will not be required to be obtained from the FIPB / CCEA:
1. Cases of entities whose activities had earlier required prior approval of FIPB / CCFI / CCEA, and who had, accordingly, earlier obtained prior approval of FIPB / CCFI / CCEA for their initial foreign investment but subsequently where such activities/sectors have been placed under the automatic route.
2. Cases of entities whose activities had sectoral caps earlier and who had, accordingly, earlier obtained prior approval of FIPB / CCFI / CCEA for their initial foreign investment, but subsequently where such caps were removed or increased and the activity placed under the automatic route.
3. Cases where prior approval of FIPB / CCFI / CCEA had been obtained with reference to activities / sectors requiring prior approval and also from the angle of provisions of Press Note 18/1998 or Press Note 1 of 2005.