India receives 20.9 b dollars Foreign Direct Investment - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said that the country has received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows of US 20.9 billion dollars during April-December 2009. Mukherjee said that the foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows during the year have been steady in spite of the decline in global capital flows. Mukherjee also informed the House that the government has taken a number of steps to simplify the FDI regime, to make it easily comprehensible to foreign investors. For the first time, both ownership and control have been recognized as central to the FDI policy, and methodology for calculation of indirect foreign investment in Indian companies have been clearly defined. A consistent policy on downstream investment has also been formulated. Another major initiative has been the complete liberalization of pricing and payment of technology transfer fee, trademark, brand name and royalty payments. These payments can now be made under the automatic route. Mukherjee said that the Government also intends to make the FDI policy user-friendly by consolidating all prior regulations and guidelines into one comprehensive document, which would enhance clarity and predictability of the FDI policy to foreign investors.