Cabinet likely to take a call on FIPB abolition tomorrow

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget on Feb 1 announced scrapping of inter-ministerial body

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi 

Arun Jaitley
Arun Jaitley

The union cabinet is likely to take a call on Wednesday on winding up of the 25-year-old Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which currently vets proposals requiring the approval.

Minister in his Budget on February 1 announced scrapping of the inter-ministerial body, which comes under the ministry's Department of Economic Affairs.



A suitable mechanism may also be proposed by the Cabinet on Wednesday to deal with foreign direct investment in sensitive sectors, sources said.

Last week, Commerce and Industry Minister had said a decision has taken for closure of the FIPB.

"Necessary arrangements will have to be made on which discussions have happened among several ministries... The Cabinet has to take a call on it," she had said.

The FIPB was initially constituted under the Prime Minister's Office in the wake of economic liberalisation in the early 1990s.

Sectors that are under the approval route for includes defence and retail trading. According to the proposed mechanism, respective ministries would take care of the proposals going forward.

Several experts have opined in the past that the need to get FIPB approval often leads to delays in foreign investments coming in.

Cabinet likely to take a call on FIPB abolition tomorrow

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget on Feb 1 announced scrapping of inter-ministerial body

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget on Feb 1 announced scrapping of inter-ministerial body The union cabinet is likely to take a call on Wednesday on winding up of the 25-year-old Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which currently vets proposals requiring the approval.

Minister in his Budget on February 1 announced scrapping of the inter-ministerial body, which comes under the ministry's Department of Economic Affairs.

A suitable mechanism may also be proposed by the Cabinet on Wednesday to deal with foreign direct investment in sensitive sectors, sources said.

Last week, Commerce and Industry Minister had said a decision has taken for closure of the FIPB.

"Necessary arrangements will have to be made on which discussions have happened among several ministries... The Cabinet has to take a call on it," she had said.

The FIPB was initially constituted under the Prime Minister's Office in the wake of economic liberalisation in the early 1990s.

Sectors that are under the approval route for includes defence and retail trading. According to the proposed mechanism, respective ministries would take care of the proposals going forward.

Several experts have opined in the past that the need to get FIPB approval often leads to delays in foreign investments coming in.
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