Centre clears Tesco’s retail plan

New Delhi: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board on Monday approved UK-based Tesco Plc’s proposal to enter the Indian multi-brand retail segment in joint venture with Tata Group company with an initial investment of $110 million (about Rs 680 crore).

Tesco proposal entailing investment of $110 million has been cleared, sources said after the FIPB meeting held here.

After the approval, Tesco will pick up a 50 per cent stake in Trent Hypermarket Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trent Ltd, a Tata group company. Tesco is the first global retailer to apply for multi- brand retailing after the government allowed 51 per cent FDI in the segment in September last year.

Trent Hypermarket runs 16 outlets in the southern and western regions with support from Tesco. The UK retailer plans to sell 14 categories of products, official sources said.

The items to be sold at its stores include tea, coffee, vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, dairy products, wine, liquor, textiles, footwear, furniture, electronics and jewellery.

The FIPB, headed by economic affairs secr-etary Arvind Mayaram, considered 12 items including Tesco’s FDI proposal. India allows FDI in most of the sectors through automatic route, government approval is required in certain sectors sensitive for the economy.

Reacting to the FIPB nod to the $110-million proposal in the Indian multi-brand retail segment  that will allow Tesco to work on practicalities of setting up a joint venture with Tata group firm Trent, UK-based Tesco said:“Tesco is pleased that the FIPB has agreed to our proposal. This will now allow us to work on the practicalities of setting up the joint venture with Trent. Any such announcement will be made in the usual way."

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Centre to ease FDI rules to attract foreign money

New Delhi: Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday indicated that the government will further liberalise the FDI policy in the new year.

“The bold decisions of the UPA government for liberalising foreign direct investment policy in key sectors such as civil aviation, retail and telecom have resonated with the global community and we have seen results in the last few months. The government will continue its endeavour for liberalising the FDI policy further in the coming weeks to ensure that India retains its leadership position for attra-cting foreign investments,” said the minister.

The ministry is now working to relax FDI norms in construction activities.

Sharma claimed that in 2013, India was rated as the most favoured investment destination globally.

Last year, the government has relaxed foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in several sectors such as telecom, defence, PSU oil refineries, commodity bourses, power exchanges and stock exchanges.

Sharma noted that coming months will see a greater push for development of industrial corridors across the country and work will commence for establishment of the first few cities along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.The minister said that  manufacturing seems to be on the mend and there is visible rebound in industrial activity. “The Indian economy has inherent strengths which give it resilience from external pressures and the series of steps taken by the government both on the fiscal and current acco-unt front have yielded positive results,” Mr Sharma said.

Railways to get FDI shot

New Delhi: The government is likely to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in high speed trains and other projects, including development of rail lines between project sites and existing network.

“The commerce and industry ministry has sent the Cabinet note on the matter and a decision is likely to be taken this this month only,” a government official said.

Besides, proposing 100 per cent FDI through automatic route in the cash-starved railway sector, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has also proposed to de-license and de-reserve few areas of the sector.
However, FDI will not be allowed in train operations and safety.

At present, there is a complete ban on any kind of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the railways sector except mass rapid transport systems.

According to the proposal, foreign investment would also be allowed in “sub-urban corridor, high speed train systems and dedicated freight line projects implemented in PPP mode,” the official said. It has suggested widening the definition of ‘infrastructure’ by including railway line and railway sidings.

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