India Relaxes FDI Rules to Attract Capital and Boost Growth

India has further eased rules on foreign direct investment in a range of industries in an attempt to support the sliding currency and boost growth.

Senior cabinet ministers and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the plans at a meeting late on Tuesday.

The move will allow 100% foreign ownership in the telecommunications industry, up from 74% at the moment.

The reforms still need clearance from the full cabinet.

In September last year, the government announced the opening up of India’s huge retail sector to foreign supermarkets, which led to protests in the streets from small shop owners.

Tuesday’s move would allow companies such as Britain’s Vodafone Group and Norway’s Telenor ASA to operate in the country without the need to partner with an Indian company.

Restrictions in a dozen other industries including insurance and tea plantations would be relaxed or abolished, said Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.

via BBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza