In a move to help foreign investors understand the Indian FDI rules, the government will put together about 175 of its 'press notes' into an user-friendly compendium.
"We have close to about 175 press notes circulating... the Industry Ministry has taken a decision to put all of these together in a booklet so that the FDI rules become much simpler for a foreign investor," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia said here.
Currently, all the FDI-related norms are dispersed through press notes issued since 1991. India received $120.3 billion foreign inflows in the last 18 years.
The UNCTAD 'World Investment Prospects Survey 2009-2011 has ranked India as the third preferred destination for foreign direct investment.
However, Director of economic think-tank ICRIER Rajiv Kumar said the step is not adequate.
"...the Department (of Industrial Policy and Promotion) should also do away with the rules which were not being used by investors... the essential provisions of these notes should be codified in a single provision. Then it will help the FDI climate," Kumar said.
During April-August 2009-10, FDI in India declined to $13 billion from $14.64 billion in the same period last year due to the global credit squeeze.
