FDI in India swells 38%, but falls 16% globally: Nirmala

[dadeechi]

FDI in India swells 38%, but falls 16% globally: Nirmala


Foreign investment in India is growing at 38 per cent even as it has witnessed a decline of 16 per cent at the global level, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today.

"India is seen as one of the best places to invest, when globally you have a 16 per cent fall in FDI. It is only in India we are growing. FDI which is coming to India is growing at 38 per cent," she said.

Speaking at the Valedictory function of 'Invest Karnataka 2016' global investors meet here, she said India's brand image has been built in the last two years due to extensive tours and visits to countries by the Prime Minister, because it was important to recapture the imagination of investors all over the world.

"Efforts of the Prime Minister have paid good reward as (there is) competitive spirit with which states are competing," Sitharaman added.

The function was attended by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Union Ministers Suresh Prabhu and Sadananda Gowda, among others.

Stating that Karnataka is a very important state in terms of its contribution to GDP, she said about 6 per cent of GDP contribution is from the state. "We understand it is growing at 7 per cent and has potential to grow faster. Karnataka is the third largest recipient of FDI," she said.

Pointing out at the start-up ecosystem that exists in Bengaluru and Karnataka, she said Prime Minister's Start-up India programme will boost it further.

Noting that Tumukuru would shape up as investment and manufacturing hub, she said it was one among the centres of interest that was discussed during the meeting between Indian and Japanese Prime Ministers.

On IT industry and especially visa fee hike issues, Sitharaman, "We are trying to make sure that maximum advantage is obtained for our IT and technology specialists so that there is easy movement."

Sitharaman said she had taken it up with US trade representatives at her level.

"We have told them that it is a non-tariff barrier which you are imposing on us," she added.

http://www.business-standard.com/ar...falls-16-globally-nirmala-116020401800_1.html

 

[dadeechi]

Cash call for core push
Our Special Correspondent

Finance minister Arun Jaitley with economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das and SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI)

New Delhi, Feb. 4: Finance minister Arun Jaitley today invited sovereign wealth funds from the UAE, Singapore and other countries to invest in roads, railways and energy sectors of India and assured them of a stable policy regime and a resilient domestic economy.

The finance ministry is seeking the participation of sovereign wealth funds for the Rs 40,000-crore National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF), which will act as a nodal agency to fund long-term projects, including the stalled ones. The ministry is finalising the first set of foreign investors in the NIIF, announced in last year's budget.

India needs more than $1 trillion over the next five years to fix its creaky infrastructure. A substantial part of this has to be in the form of equity, a gap that the NIIF is looking to fill.

The NIIF yesterday signed a pact with Russian Nanotechnology Corporation to set up a $2 billion fund that would invest in high-technology and defence projects in India.

Eight infrastructure industries grew just 0.9 per cent in December against 3.2 per cent a year ago, on account of a fall in the production of crude oil, natural gas and steel. The core sector growth was better than November, when it contracted 1.3 per cent.

Inaugurating the two-day India Investment Summit 2016 here today, Jaitley highlighted the opportunities that the country offered to investors. He held closed-door discussions with several potential investors, including European investment banks and the sovereign funds of Singapore and the UAE.

Since coming to power in May 2014, the NDA government has relaxed foreign direct investment norms in over a dozen sectors, including defence, banking, railways, construction and medical devices. Jaitley has on several occasions said the country needed to attract foreign investment to supplement domestic efforts to accelerate growth.

"One of the greatest challenges before India was to re-establish the credibility of Indian markets and to establish the credibility of Indian economy it was important that we not only reform but continue reform only in one direction," Jaitley said in his inaugural address at the summit.

He said decision-making had been expedited and conditions that made investment process difficult had been relaxed.

Jaitley hoped that the goods and services tax (GST) bill and the bankruptcy law would be passed in the budget session of Parliament.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160205/jsp/business/story_67548.jsp#.VrPnip45CUk

BHEL, ONGC and IOC may witness strategic sale.
The big thrust areas of Union Budget 2016-17, which is Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s most closely watched budget, will be the agriculture and transport sectors and big-ticket disinvestment, including strategic sales in high-value companies such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and oil and defence public sector units (PSUs) such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML).

Mr. Jaitley will announce in his budget speech a new centrally sponsored scheme for irrigation.

On the expenditure side, the big outgo will be on account of the implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission recommendations for pay and pension hikes with effect from January 1 this year.

The government has decided, an official source told The Hindu, to announce hikes slightly more generous than the Commission’s recommendations. The payouts that will begin from April 1 will include arrears for three months. More than Rs. 1 lakh crore has been budgeted under the head.

Although this payout has turned out to be the biggest challenge for the Finance Minister in meeting the fiscal deficit target, the source said “full effort is [on] to ensure there are no further pauses in the committed fiscal consolidation targets.”

The Finance Ministry earlier sent its budget calculations including proposals related to the fiscal deficit for approval to the Prime Minister, the source said. Mr. Jaitley will present the budget in Parliament on February 29.

To meet the fiscal deficit target, the government will rely on proceeds from disinvestment for which the budget will set ambitious targets.

Mr. Jaitley, who was the first Disinvestment Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA, proposes to unveil in his budget speech a two-year road map for three types of sales of government stake in PSUs.

First, a plan for winding up loss-making units, including rules for the disposal of their assets and land. Passage next month of the new bankruptcy code by Parliament during the budget session, it is expected, will aid these sales. Second, profitable PSUs will be listed on stock exchanges through public sales of shares. The government’s shareholding in enterprises already listed will be pared down through public offers to the minimum level depending on the sector and “in line with government policy.” The third category will be that of strategic sales of high-value and big-size companies such as BHEL, and the oil and defence sector PSUs.

The government will invite global companies to bid for its stakes in such companies with the aim of inducting cutting edge technology and improving corporate governance in them.

“The private partners will be expected to turn the energy PSUs into global giants spread across the world… India wants to be big in the energy sector,” the source said. The mega strategic sales in the oil sector will be part of India’s energy security plan.

“The bureaucracy has not been very supportive of our plans for disinvestment but we will push ahead,” the source said.

Based on inputs received from private investors, the government is finalising a new revenue model for irrigation projects to be developed in the public-private partnership space, which will bring down the downstream user charges for farmers. This technology-intensive concept will be selectively applied to high-yield, plantation and commercial crops.

Changes in the policy regime for repatriation of returns by investors from their Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the basis of inputs from inland highways and waterways are also being worked out.

Mr. Jaitley announced earlier this month that railways will soon invite bids for modernisation of 400 stations, including their development and management. The Centre has already opened up 100% FDI under the automatic route in rolling stock, services, catering and the development and running of passenger terminals. Measures are likely for addressing delays in land acquisition in various States that is leading to stalled rail projects.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...igticket-divestment-likely/article8194898.ece

 

[Nilgiri]

Total FDI is actually doubling.

This refers to just capex (greenfield).

Refer to:

https://defence.pk/threads/indian-economy-news-updates.27787/page-359#post-8109891

for total FDI increasing.

 

[Dungeness]

Cash call for core push
Our Special Correspondent

Finance minister Arun Jaitley with economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das and SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI)

New Delhi, Feb. 4: Finance minister Arun Jaitley today invited sovereign wealth funds from the UAE, Singapore and other countries to invest in roads, railways and energy sectors of India and assured them of a stable policy regime and a resilient domestic economy.

The finance ministry is seeking the participation of sovereign wealth funds for the Rs 40,000-crore National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF), which will act as a nodal agency to fund long-term projects, including the stalled ones. The ministry is finalising the first set of foreign investors in the NIIF, announced in last year's budget.

India needs more than $1 trillion over the next five years to fix its creaky infrastructure. A substantial part of this has to be in the form of equity, a gap that the NIIF is looking to fill.

The NIIF yesterday signed a pact with Russian Nanotechnology Corporation to set up a $2 billion fund that would invest in high-technology and defence projects in India.

Eight infrastructure industries grew just 0.9 per cent in December against 3.2 per cent a year ago, on account of a fall in the production of crude oil, natural gas and steel. The core sector growth was better than November, when it contracted 1.3 per cent.

Inaugurating the two-day India Investment Summit 2016 here today, Jaitley highlighted the opportunities that the country offered to investors. He held closed-door discussions with several potential investors, including European investment banks and the sovereign funds of Singapore and the UAE.

Since coming to power in May 2014, the NDA government has relaxed foreign direct investment norms in over a dozen sectors, including defence, banking, railways, construction and medical devices. Jaitley has on several occasions said the country needed to attract foreign investment to supplement domestic efforts to accelerate growth.

"One of the greatest challenges before India was to re-establish the credibility of Indian markets and to establish the credibility of Indian economy it was important that we not only reform but continue reform only in one direction," Jaitley said in his inaugural address at the summit.

He said decision-making had been expedited and conditions that made investment process difficult had been relaxed.

Jaitley hoped that the goods and services tax (GST) bill and the bankruptcy law would be passed in the budget session of Parliament.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160205/jsp/business/story_67548.jsp#.VrPnip45CUk

BHEL, ONGC and IOC may witness strategic sale.
The big thrust areas of Union Budget 2016-17, which is Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s most closely watched budget, will be the agriculture and transport sectors and big-ticket disinvestment, including strategic sales in high-value companies such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and oil and defence public sector units (PSUs) such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML).

Mr. Jaitley will announce in his budget speech a new centrally sponsored scheme for irrigation.

On the expenditure side, the big outgo will be on account of the implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission recommendations for pay and pension hikes with effect from January 1 this year.

The government has decided, an official source told The Hindu, to announce hikes slightly more generous than the Commission’s recommendations. The payouts that will begin from April 1 will include arrears for three months. More than Rs. 1 lakh crore has been budgeted under the head.

Although this payout has turned out to be the biggest challenge for the Finance Minister in meeting the fiscal deficit target, the source said “full effort is [on] to ensure there are no further pauses in the committed fiscal consolidation targets.”

The Finance Ministry earlier sent its budget calculations including proposals related to the fiscal deficit for approval to the Prime Minister, the source said. Mr. Jaitley will present the budget in Parliament on February 29.

To meet the fiscal deficit target, the government will rely on proceeds from disinvestment for which the budget will set ambitious targets.

Mr. Jaitley, who was the first Disinvestment Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA, proposes to unveil in his budget speech a two-year road map for three types of sales of government stake in PSUs.

First, a plan for winding up loss-making units, including rules for the disposal of their assets and land. Passage next month of the new bankruptcy code by Parliament during the budget session, it is expected, will aid these sales. Second, profitable PSUs will be listed on stock exchanges through public sales of shares. The government’s shareholding in enterprises already listed will be pared down through public offers to the minimum level depending on the sector and “in line with government policy.” The third category will be that of strategic sales of high-value and big-size companies such as BHEL, and the oil and defence sector PSUs.

The government will invite global companies to bid for its stakes in such companies with the aim of inducting cutting edge technology and improving corporate governance in them.

“The private partners will be expected to turn the energy PSUs into global giants spread across the world… India wants to be big in the energy sector,” the source said. The mega strategic sales in the oil sector will be part of India’s energy security plan.

“The bureaucracy has not been very supportive of our plans for disinvestment but we will push ahead,” the source said.

Based on inputs received from private investors, the government is finalising a new revenue model for irrigation projects to be developed in the public-private partnership space, which will bring down the downstream user charges for farmers. This technology-intensive concept will be selectively applied to high-yield, plantation and commercial crops.

Changes in the policy regime for repatriation of returns by investors from their Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the basis of inputs from inland highways and waterways are also being worked out.

Mr. Jaitley announced earlier this month that railways will soon invite bids for modernisation of 400 stations, including their development and management. The Centre has already opened up 100% FDI under the automatic route in rolling stock, services, catering and the development and running of passenger terminals. Measures are likely for addressing delays in land acquisition in various States that is leading to stalled rail projects.

Union Budget 2016: Big-ticket divestment likely - The Hindu

Nice to see there is a plan for irrigation in union budget. Indian farmers should not hang their life on monsoon. I just hope it will be implemented in a timely fashion. It hurts every time when I read the news about farmer suicide because of the poor monsoon.