17 February 2001

FDI shoots 15 per cent to $4.5 billion
New Delhi: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India has gone up to about $4.5 billion during the year 2000, as against $4 billion in 1999, a rise of 14.67 per cent. According commerce ministry, the last two years have shown a significant step-up in inflow-approval ratio and the current realisation rate of FDI at around 52 per cent.

With this inflow, cumulative FDI inflows into India from January 1991 to December 2000 stood at about $23.6 billion. Total FDI approval between January 1991, and December 2000 stood at $68.3 billion.

Fuels, telecommunications, electrical equipment, computer software and electronics, transportation industry, service sector, metallurgical industry, chemicals, food processing industries and hotel and tourism are among the top sectors in which FDI approvals have taken place.

FII funds too banned in print media
Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday made it clear that permission for foreign investments of any kind even other than foreign direct investment (FDI) was being withdrawn for the print media sector with immediate effect.

The RBI clarification has set to rest the controversy over the Rs 50-crore initial public offer of Mid-Day Multimedia, owners of the Mumbai-based Mid-Day afternoon newspaper. The notification said: "facility for acquisition of shares and convertible debentures of Indian companies engaged in print media sector by foreign venture capital investors, foreign institutional investors (FII), as also by non-resident Indians/overseas corporate bodies has been withdrawn with immediate effect".