Financial Services News

DPIIT close to finalising revised FDI policy, to facilitate disinvestment of LIC: secretary

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NEW DELHI :

The government is close to finalising the revised policy on foreign direct investment, which will help in divestment of Life Insurance Corporation of India, department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) secretary Anurag Jain said Thursday.  

He said that permissible percentage for foreign investment in LIC will be decided by the departments of divestment and financial services, and the changes will go to Cabinet for approval. 

“The way our FDI policy reads as of now, it will cause a lot of issues for prospective investors, due to which it would be difficult to proceed with disinvestment. We have had grounds of discussion and now we (departments of divestment and financial services) have all come on the same page. So we are in process of drafting those changes in the FDI policy, it will go to the cabinet. Once we get that approval, it will be known to all,” he told reporters during a virtual press briefing.   

He added that the percentage of FDI that will be permissible will be decided by the departments of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) and financial services (DFS), which will be executed by the commerce ministry.  

He added that the change would be an enabling mechanism which can facilitate the disinvestment, such that it becomes a permissible activity. The government is looking to bring the initial public offering of LIC of India by March this year, which is expected to be a mammoth 1 lakh crore, officials have said.  

Jain said that the e-commerce policy was ‘close to being finalised’ and the ‘rough edges were being removed,’ while adding that the national retail trade policy was also being finalised.  

On a question on the impact of Omicron on the country’s growth, Jain said that it was unlikely to have an impact on economic growth – at most of five to 10 basis points – as India was much better prepared and the vaccination rate had soared.  

“We are much better prepared from the last wave… I have a feeling that there is nothing to be worried about. We are reasonably confident,” he said. He further noted that oxygen supplies of nearly 19000 tonnes were ready for deployment if the need arose.  

Talking about the government’s achievements in 2021, Jain said that the government-registered startups have created up to 6.5 lakh jobs in the country with India becoming the third- largest startup ecosystem in the world with more than 60,000 startups recognised by the DPIIT since 2016.  

He added that DPIIT aimed to create 20 lakh new jobs in the sector by officially registering 50,000 new startups. 

The department will also organize Startup India Innovation Week from January 10 which will feature innovative startups from India’s startup ecosystem. 

Select startups will also be meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 15, as per a presentation shared by the department. 

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