Govt clears 25 FDI proposals worth Rs 395 cr

NEW DELHI: The government Monday cleared 25 FDI proposals, aggregating Rs 394.8 crore. These include the proposal of Swiss company Encotra to increase foreign equity in its Indian arm Visa International to 74% from 21%. Encotra’s Rs 173.8-crore proposal is to change the status of Visa from a holding company to a holding-cum-operating company.

Other major proposals approved by the FM on the recommendation of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board include Metcoke Singapore’s plans to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India with an investment of Rs 70 crore.

They also include US IT firm Wyse Technology’s Rs 66 crore proposal for foreign equity participation to the extent of 100% to undertake trading activities.

The major investment proposals cleared pertain to the coal, mining, IT and telecom sectors. These include Mauritius-based Uno Investments’ plans to acquire 20% each in Chennai-based Shriram Overseas Finance, Shriram Transport Finance and Shriram Investments through open offers with a total investment of over Rs 29 crore.

The proposal of Japan’s Honda Trading Corp to set up 100% a subsidiary at an investment of Rs 4.2 crore and the UK’s Colorama Pharmaceuticals’ plans to acquire up to 50% in Vadodara-based Osaka Pharma for Rs 4 crore were also cleared.