The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was a national agency of
Government of India
The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
, with the remit to consider and recommend
foreign direct investment (FDI) which does not come under the automatic route. India attract net inward foreign direct investment amounting to USD 30.76 billion during the fiscal year ended March 2014, a 14.13% increase compared to the previous fiscal year. acted as a single window clearance for proposals on
foreign direct investment (FDI) in India. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was housed in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. FIPB was abolished on 24 May 2017, as announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during 2017-2018 budget speech in Lok Sabha.
Members
*Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs - Chairman
*Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion - Member
*Secretary, Department of Commerce - Member
*Secretary, (Economic Relation),
Ministry of External Affairs - Member
The Board is empowered to co-opt Secretaries to the
Government of India
The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
and other top officials of financial institutions, banks and professional experts of industry and commerce, as required.
Process
In a significant move aimed at expediting flow of foreign investment into the country, the Union Cabinet liberalised the
FDI policy further by allowing the FIPB to clear proposals from overseas entities worth up to ₹30 billion, against the existing limit of ₹12 billion.
Recommendations of FIPB for proposals up to ₹30 billion are approved by
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
. While recommendations for proposals of more than ₹3000
crore need to be approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
Aircel-Maxis deal controversy
Former
Minister of Law and Justice
The Minister of Law and Justice is the head of the Ministry of Law and Justice and one of the cabinet ministers of the Government of India. The first Law and Justice Minister of independent India was B. R. Ambedkar, who served in first Nehru ...
&
2G spectrum case
The 2G spectrum case was a political controversy in which politicians and private officials of the United Progressive Alliance coalition government India were involved in selling or allotting 122 2G spectrum licenses on conditions that prov ...
petitioner Dr
Subramanian Swamy
Subramanian Swamy (born 15 September 1939) is an Indian politician, economist and statistician. Before joining politics, he was a professor of Mathematical Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He is known for his Hindu ...
alleged that in 2006, a company controlled by then
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
P Chidambaram's son Karti got five per cent stake in Sivasankaran's
Aircel to get part of ₹40 billion that the
Maxis Communications
Maxis Communications or Maxis Berhad is a communications service provider in Malaysia. It is one of the oldest and largest telecommunications companies in the country. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, it provides a variety of communica ...
paid for 74 per cent stake in Aircel. He alleged that Mr Chidambaram withheld the FIPB clearance to the deal till his son got the five per cent shares in Siva's company.
Subsequently the issue was raised on multiple times in
Parliament of India
The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...
by the opposition which demanded resignation of Mr
P Chidambaram.
He and the government denied all the allegations.
According to
The Pioneer and
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new on ...
reports, documents show that approval to the
FDI proposal was indeed delayed about 7 months by
P Chidambaram.
External links
Finance Ministry of India
See also
*
Investment promotion agency
References
{{reflist
Executive branch of the government of India
Investment promotion agencies
Foreign relations of India
Ministry of Finance (India)
Investment in India
Defunct government departments and agencies of India