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FDI in multi-brand retail will create 10 m jobs
- Mr. Sharma said that necessary guidelines and press note would be issued by next week giving details of the approved policy.
- “Our initial estimates are that it will create over 4 million jobs in the small and medium industries and another 5-6 million jobs in the logistics sector in the coming three years,”
- The fear that small and marginal traders would stand displaced is wrong. In Indonesia, even after nine years of opening FDI in multi-brand retail, 90 per cent of the business remains with the small trader
- Mr. Sharma said this was a major step towards providing liberation to the farmers from middlemen and ensuring remunerative price for their produce.
- This step will help in not only attracting huge investment but also creating jobs in the agro and food processing industries and bring FDI to build the much needed infrastructure in rural India
- Mr. Sharma said this was why a mandatory provision had been made that 50 per cent of the investment would be in rural back-end infrastructure.
- India has put out its own policy on FDI in multi-brand retail with 51 per cent limit. China, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, South Africa, Argentina and Chile have allowed 100 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail. We are not following any nation but guided by national interest
- all proposals relating to multi-brand retail would be cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and retailers would have to take licence from the respective State governments for opening the mega stores.
- The government's decision would pave way for global retail giants such as Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour to set up their mega store retail chains in the country.
- The Minister said the government had also increased the FDI cap in single brand retail to 100 per cent from the current 51 per cent. “Single brand product retailing would cover only products which are branded during manufacturing. The foreign investor should be the owner of the brand.
- In respect of proposals involving FDI beyond 51 per cent, 30 per cent sourcing from SMEs/village and cottage industries artisans and craftsman would be mandatory,” he added. This would benefit Indian SMEs, especially in sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, leather and jute.
UCBs: interest rate on savings accounts deregulated
- The Reserve Bank of India on Friday deregulated the interest rate on savings accounts in urban co-operative banks (UCBs), a move that will fetch better returns for depositors.
- RBI said lenders were free to determine their savings bank deposit rate
RBI hopes FDI in muti-brand retail will ease inflation
- Dr. Subbarao said 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail would attract foreign capital into the country. “It is a visible measure (taken by the Centre) that will bring in right capital in the country
- The supply-demand gap in the food sector is, in part, a problem of success — a consequence of a shift in dietary habits from cereal to protein-based foods reflecting rising income, especially rural incomes
- To achieve stable macroeconomic environment, the RBI chief said it would be necessary to bring down inflation to 5 per cent and reduce the fiscal deficit at the Centre as well as States.
- Advocating fiscal consolidation and containment of fiscal deficit, Dr. Subbarao termed subsidies given on fuel, fertilizer and irrigation as ‘bad' ones and stressed on weeding out unproductive expenditure.
- “Then there is fertilizer subsidy...soil degradation happens because of fertilizer subsidy and thereafter irrigation subsidy,” he said.
- Dr. Subbarao said there were good subsidies as well, like giving cycles to girls to come to school and constructing toilets for girls in schools located in villages.
Rs. 2,126 crore FDI proposals cleared
- The Central Government on Friday gave its approval to 18 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals entailing an anticipated forex inflow of about Rs.2,126.20 crore.
- based on the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB)
- The FIPB at its meeting on November 15 also deferred decision on 16 FDI proposals and rejected 11 others.
SEBI fixes Rs.5 crore floor for anchor investors
- The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday decided to mandate listed entities to submit business responsibility reports, as a part of their annual reports, describing measures taken by them along the key principles enunciated in the ‘National voluntary guidelines on social, environmental and economic responsibilities of business,' framed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
- This initiative would assess fulfilment of the environmental, social and governance responsibilities of listed entities.
- To make the concept of anchor investors (AIs) more effective, SEBI has decided to prescribe a minimum allotment size of Rs.5 crore and the maximum number of AIs, slab-wise.
RBI approves extension of AI loan tenures
- Cash-strapped Air India on Thursday got a boost with the Reserve Bank of India approving extension of its loan tenures from 10 to 15 years.
- Under the Rs.18,000-crore Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) proposal, the lenders would extend the tenure of Rs.11,000 crore short-term loans into long-term loans of 15 years and convert Rs.7,000 crore debt into equity.
- The beleaguered national carrier has accumulated debt of over Rs.64,000 crore from 14 lenders which, under the aegis of SBI Caps, had submitted a restructuring proposal to the RBI seeking its permission to extend the loan tenures, among other issues.
