The finance ministry today cleared 32 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth a total of Rs 845.7 crore based on the recommendations given by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). Some of the big ticket proposals included construction company Oriental Structural Engineers Limited’s proposal to set up a holding company which will bring in Rs 450 crore worth of FDI, Reid and Taylor’s offer to allot and issue shares worth Rs 108 crore and Dr Oetker India’s proposal to convert the operating company into an operating-cum-holding company, which will bring in about Rs 110 crore worth of FDI.Media giant Television Eighteen’s proposal to start three new regional business news channels was also approved, though it won’t attract any new FDI. Public sector major Oil India’s proposal was also approved by the Finance Minister, which included conversion of operating company into an operating-cum-holding company and an IPO issue. The amount of FDI inflow was, however, not indicated. The FM also rejected deferred four of the original applications, which included applications by Lokmat Newspapers Private Limited, Dow Jones and Company, Prithviraj Prakashan Private Limited and GSR Sugars Private Limited.Three other proposals by Nagarjuna Construction Co Ltd, American company Innuit US Holdings Inc and Singapore-based Delight Investments Pte Limited were rejected by the FM.Amid the ongoing global economic downturn, the Indian government has so far been sanguine about future FDI inflows highlighting time and again how there has been a jump of more than 130 per cent in FDI inflows so far this year. FDI inflows over the April-September period this year to jumped a significant amount to reach $17.21 billion compared to the last year’s corresponding figure of $7.25 billion.
